Cattle Markets Weaken As Harvest Ramps Up
Cash cattle trades were called light in all three major trading areas as packers seemed to have plenty of inventory. Weekly harvest levels recovered after the holiday-shortened schedules.
Cattle traded in the North at $156 to $157 per cwt. live and $250 to $252 per cwt. dressed, steady to $1 lower on a live basis. Cattle in the south traded at $156 per cwt., $1 lower. Feeder cattle were mixed at $2 higher to $3 lower. Calves traded in a wide range, mostly $2 to $8 higher.
Wholesale beef prices moved lower for the week. Choice boxed beef closed Friday at $276.62 per cwt., $6.37 per cwt. lower than the previous week. Select boxed beef traded at $256.89 per cwt., $2.45 per cwt. lower.
Total cattle slaughter was estimated at 661,000 head, 98,000 head higher than the previous week and 11,000 head more than the same week in 2022. The year-to-date was estimated at 4.786 million head, 133,000 head less than last year.
Nearby February live cattle ended the week at $157.725 up 17.5 cents after trading lower most of the day. The close marked a 95-cent rise on the week. March feeder futures tumbled $1.40 to $182.875 at Friday’s close, which represented a weekly decline of $2.775
