Live cattle futures are slipping back 17 cents to $1.42 so far at midday. Cash trade has been quiet this week, with a few southern bids of $260. Last week settled in at $256-260, with southern action $256-258 and northern trade at $258-260. Feeder cattle futures are down $1.90 to $3.15 so far on Tuesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down $2.54 to $374.83 on May 7. The weekly OKC feeder cattle auction had 5,237 head for sale, with prices down $5-10 on feeder steers and steady to $5 lower on feeder heifers.
On Monday, report indicated the US was looking to temporarily lower beef import tariffs as soon as Monday, though the White House decided late on Monday to delay the plan in order to finalize details.
