Hulett: Cattle Prices Head Higher

Cattle prices continue their slow grind higher.  Cattle feeders in the South saw most cattle trade in the $121-$122 range with a few outliers on either side of that.  The trade in volume continued to push a little higher, too.

The North also experienced rising prices.  Live cattle traded $123-$125 and dressed cattle mostly $194-$198.  There were some cattle traded late on Friday that brought $127.50.  This should be a good sign for the upcoming week.

Packers have been experiencing lower numbers of committed cattle.  This is helping the independent cattle feeder get their show list cleaned up and back to a current state.  This lack of committed cattle has also aided in the ability of cattle feeders to begin to push the market higher.  The trend of higher cash should continue for some time.   

Brad Hulett is Director, Customer Development & Regional Manager, Kansas, at Consolidated Beef Producers , Inc.