LIVESTOCK COMMENTS: Packers and cattle feeders waited until the eleventh hour again this week to begin trading finished cattle. Fed cattle traded $2 higher compared to last week on a live basis. At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $313.53 up $3.38 from Thursday and up $19.33 from a week ago
NBW Market Commmentary
U.S. CATTLE REPORT: Dressed cattle sales hit $300; Boxed beef up whopping $18.88 since last Fri; Cattle slaughter drops below 600K; Daily drop up 70 cents to $11.40; Dow closes above 40K
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
Boxed Beef PM: Choice: $313.45 (+3.30); Select: $297.40 (+0.89); Ch/Se Spread: 16.05; Total Loads: 99 compared to 115 on Thursday
Cattle Prices
CATTLE WEIGHTS: Live weights reported this week at 1,398 lbs., unch from last week, up 48 lbs. from last year (EWMP)
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
Beef Production Down 3.7% From Last Week, Cattle Weights Up 48 Pounds From Last Year (ewmp)
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
Weekly cattle slaughter reported at 598K head, compared to 622K last week and 640K last year. YTD slaughter at 11.99 million head, down 4.5% from last year (EWMP)
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
CME LIVESTOCK: Live Cattle: $181.05 (+2.025); Feeder Cattle: $259.85 (+2.50); Hogs: $100.05 (-1.575) (VIEW COMMODITY QUOTES)
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
CME GRAINS: Corn: $4.525 (-0.045); Wheat: $6.5125 (-0.12); Soybeans: $12.28 (+0.1175); Soybean Meal: $368.80 (+1.10) (VIEW COMMODITY QUOTES)
National Corn Wire
ENERGY PRICES: Crude Oil: $80.06 (+0.83); Ethanol: $1.78 (-0.03); Natural Gas: $2.626 (+0.131) (Nat-Gas Prices Finish Sharply Higher as Oversupply Fears Ease)
Market Update
STOCK UPDATE: Dow 30: 40,003.59 (+134.21); Nasdaq: 16,685.97 (-12.35); S&P 500: 5,303.27 (+6.17) (Stocks Settle Mixed As Indexes Consolidate Below Record Highs)
Market Update
LIVESTOCK, DAIRY & POULTRY OUTLOOK (MAY): Tightening supplies of cattle will continue to pull down U.S. beef production in 2025, supporting a 6-percent year-over-year decline to 25.120 billion pounds
Ag Reports: Most Recent
U.S. EXPORT SALES: Beef sales of 15,100 MT for 2024 were up 23 percent from the previous week, but down 11 percent from the prior 4-week average
Market Update
DROUGHT MONITOR: Light to moderate precipitation fell across the Midwest, with the heaviest rain falling in eastern Missouri, southern Illinois, southern Indiana, and western and central Kentucky, all of which saw improvements
Weather
ST. ONGE LIVESTOCK (ST. ONGE, SD): The largest string sold at St. Onge so far this year was 153 steers (658#) at $301.50 on April 19th. There have been 60 strings sold so far in 2024 that were 50 head or larger (WATCH LIVE NOW)
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
Boxed Beef AM: $313.53 (+3.38); Select: $298.09 (+1.58); Ch/Se Spread: 15.44; Total Loads: 62
US Cattle Report by National Beef Wire
FRIDAY SALES: Blue Grass, Tri-State, Burwell, Eastern Missouri, Fort Scott, SEMO, Verdigre, St. Onge, Sioux Falls, Edina, Kingsville, Wahoo; Santa Teresa, Sugarcreek, Staunton Union (WATCH LIVE)
Salebarn Network
EASTERN MISSOURI: The largest string sold at Eastern so far in 2024 was 63 steers (886#) at $219.50 on March 8th. There have been 8 sales so far in 2024 that have been 50 head or larger (WATCH LIVE)
Cattle Prices
BLUE GRASS (RICHMOND, KY): The largest string sold at Richmond so far this year was 116 steers (912#) at $240.00 on March 29th. There have been 2 strings sold so far in 2024 that were 100 head or larger (WATCH LIVE NOW)
Cattle Prices