Limits are expanded to $10.75 for live cattle and 13.75 for feeders on Thursday. Live cattle futures closed the Wednesday session with contracts down $4.62 to $6. Preliminary open interest was up just 334 contracts. Cash trade saw some light action in the north on Wednesday at $239-240. The Wednesday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,646 head offered with bids at $238. Feeder cattle futures were $7.85 lower in the October contracts, with the rest of the board down the limit. Preliminary open interest was down 944 contracts, suggesting some long liquidation. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down 99 cents at $372.00 on October 21.
On Wednesday President Trump stated that cattle producers need to “get their prices down” in a Truth Social post that sent the market lower in a hurry. Reports also suggest he is looking to buy 4 times the normal quota of beef from Argentina (80,000 MT). Later in the day on Wednesday, USDA also released plans to help expand the US herd, in part by opening up more federal lands for grazing.
