Live cattle shot higher following Wednesday’s late USDA H5N1 announcement, closing with $1.90 to $2.95 gains. Cash trade has been slow to develop this week with a few $186 in KS reported by the USDA, with NE at $187. Both would be an improvement on the week, but noted volume has been light. Feeders were up $2.17 to $3.62 across the board on Thursday. The CME Feeder Cattle index was down $3.69 on May 1 to $243.37.
On Wednesday, USDA issued a release stating their tests on the ground beef in states where dairy herds have tested positive for the H5N1 bird flu, came back negative for the virus.
