Live cattle futures closed Thursday with contracts 52 cents to $1.67 in the red on the session. Cash trade has been limited so far, with a few bids of $253. Last week’s cash trade was at $260 to $265 across the country. The Thursday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,008 head offered, with bids of $253-255. Feeder cattle futures posted 82 cent to $1.60 losses across the front months on Thursday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $2.37 on May 27 to $369.63.
The Thursday APHIS update on the New World Screwworm showed a total of 2,072 active cases in Mexico as of Wednesday. There were 182 active cases in the bordering state of Tamaulipas, 105 active in Nuevo Leon, and 19 in Coahuila.