Nearby fat cattle futures were 27 to 80 cents weaker at the Monday close. The feeder cattle market had triple digit gains of as much as $1.67 across the front months. There are still no deliveries issued against Feb cattle, as CME confirmed the oldest dated long is now 10/20. USDA reported Friday cash trade from $179 to $183, citing a mostly $2-$4 increase for NE with the bulk at $180. USDA reported decent demand for the OKC feeder cattle auction on Monday, noting that 50% of the listing was heifers. The CME Feeder Cattle Index increased by another $3.01 to $246.06.
USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were firmer on Monday afternoon with a 4 cent increase in Choice and a $1.94 stronger in Select. Monday’s FI cattle slaughter was 115k head, which was 10k head below last week and was 8.5k head behind the same week last year.
