It was a reluctant steady-higher trade that took place in the industry last week. Packers struggling to stay in the black have been choking back the harvest pace to keep things in check. The harvest came in at 603,000 head. That’s 42,000 head smaller than a year ago, and 10,000 head smaller than the previous week. Albeit the cash cattle market managed to trade steady with a few outside trades at higher money.
The numbers are simply just not there for the packer to build any leverage. The South was spurred by an individual trade of $186 on front-cattle. This shored up their asking prices and feeders were able to work off their $178 offers and find trade at $180. The North again finding a few more bidders saw trade at primarily $188 live and $295 dressed.
The numbers reported Friday have the industry negotiating just 67,927 head of grid and cash combined. That’s 11,010 more than the same period a week ago, but 78,348 head fewer than a year ago. It was not long ago, where the industry was concerned with the number of cattle being negotiated over on a weekly basis. It seems as if that conversation has been set aside or at least muted with these higher prices. More of the story will be told Monday when the summary reports are published, but it was one item we should keep an eye on.
