Cash bids were once again hard to come by last week. There were only a couple of packers in the market for the second week. This was somewhat due to upcoming shortened and holiday harvest schedules and issues with windy conditions during the week. At week’s end packers added very few cattle to their inventory with $138 the best cash bid in the South, with some cattle trading as low at $136 before the week was over.
Cattle feeders in the North also saw the cash market erode away. Dressed cattle mostly traded $217-$218 and cash cattle mostly at $138. Packer participation was also limited in this region.
This week may not be much better price wise, with most packers running a shortened harvest schedule for next week. It would not be surprising to see more packers back in the market trying to buy some extra inventory before full harvest resumes in two weeks.
Brad Hulett is Director, Customer Development & Regional Manager, Kansas, at Consolidated Beef Producers , Inc.
