Live cattle futures saw weaker midday action though futures pulled off the lows to close up 12 cents to $1.12, as June was up $1.82 last week. Open interest was down 9,652 contracts, suggesting short covering. Cash trade crept up to $258 this week following the $256-257 earlier in the week. The Thursday Fed Cattle Exchange showed $258 sales on 194 of the 388 head offered. Feeder cattle futures ended the day with 27 to 75 cents gains, with August $5.47 higher on the week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another $2.17 on June 4 to $361.38.
There was a second case of New World Screwworm reported in the US on Friday, 5.6 miles from the first confirmed case in Zavala County, Texas.
