Live cattle saw mixed trade on Monday with most contracts within 27 cents on either side of unchanged. Last week’s cash cattle trade centered around $188 in the South, with northern trade at $198. Monday saw most compiling showlists. Feeder cattle were propped up by a weaker corn market, as contracts were anywhere from 12 cents to 92 cents higher. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 84 cents on July 12 at $261.88. Monday’s OKC feeder cattle auction showed 6,300 head of calves sold, up nearly 2,000 head from last week. Prices were noted as $4-8 lower, with demand as moderate.
Pasture conditions were listed at 41%, a drop of 3% from the week previous. That was a 307 rating on the Brugler500 index (using all 5 USDA ratings), an 11-point drop from last week. An average of the major beef cow states shows a 9-point reduction to 340.
