Live cattle futures are falling on Wednesday, with contracts down $1.52 to $4.10 at midday. Cash trade has been limited so far this week after $260-265 sales last week. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 652 head offered, with bids of $259-260. Feeder cattle futures are slipping back with contracts down $1.75 to $2, as soon to expire May is up 82 cents. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down $1.83 to $369.46 on May 18.
The Tuesday APHIS update on the New World Screwworm showed a total of 1,889 active cases of in Mexico as of Monday. There were 156 active cases in the bordering state of Tamaulipas (7 within a range of 82-96 miles of the US border), 48 active in Nuevo Leon (14 within a range of 57-99 miles of the US border), and 15 in Coahuila (1 within 72 miles of the US border).
