Live cattle futures are down the $7.25 limit across most contracts on Monday. Last week’s cash trade was $215-219 in the North, with $220-224 in the South. Feeder cattle futures are down the $9.25 limit across the board at midday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $1.44 to $339.72 on November 20. The weekly OKC feeder cattle auction has an estimated 3,200 head for sale, with feeders down $10-20 and calves down $20-40 early.
Late on Friday, Tyson announced that it is planning to close its 5,000 head per day Lexington, NE plant and shift its Amarillo, TX plant to a single full capacity shift. The shutdown isn’t expected until January 20, which limits the immediate impact (i.e. the December and February contracts), but longs want out.
