Live cattle futures are mixed, with nearbys up a tick to a nickel lower. Cash trade was reported at $350-355 dressed in the North with a few $224 live bids in the South. The Thursday Fed Cattle exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,514 head offered with $220-220.50 bids. Feeder cattle futures are down 50 cents to $1.55. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 43 cents on September 16 to $343.17.
USDA will release their monthly cattle on feed report at 2pm CDT this afternoon, with August Placements seen 3.3% lower and marketings down 4%. September 1 cattle on feed inventory is estimated to be up 1.7% from a year ago.