Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures gained on Friday as processors looked to incentivize market-ready cattle movement while producers struggled against high temperatures on the U.S. Plains, analysts said.
“We saw packers willing to pay up to keep stuff moving. With the hot weather, you had probably reduced performance and a little bit lighter weights coming in,” said Matt Wiegand, risk management consultant at FuturesOne.
Most-active October live cattle gained 0.45 cents to 181.175 cents/lb., ending the week up 1.31 per cent (all figures US$).
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October feeder cattle lifted 0.725 cents, to 253.975 cents/lb., adding 1.31 per cent for the week.
Cash cattle eased, with northern Plains cattle trading $3 lower at $185 per hundredweight (cwt), while the southern Plains were steady at $178-$179/cwt, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Weekly cattle slaughter was set to reach 626,000, down 7.67 per cent from the same period a year ago, USDA said.
Boxed beef prices lifted, with choice cuts lifting 27 cents to $317.90/cwt, while select cuts added 76 cents, to $292.67/cwt.
Meanwhile, CME lean hog futures eased as seasonal pressured beat out producer concerns about expanding herds amid tightening profitability.
“Numbers will tick up seasonally, relatively speaking,” said Wiegand. “But I would expect they would increasingly track below a year ago numbers as we get deeper into the fall, at least until we create a better margin situation.”
The most-active October futures slid 0.65 cents to 79.825 cents/lb. For the week, October hogs fell 2.8 per cent.
Wholesale pork carcass cutout sank $11.50, to $93.42/cwt.
For the week, pork processors were set to slaughter 2.5 million head, up 3.65 per cent year over year, USDA said.
The CME’s Lean Hog Index, a two-day weighted average of cash prices, last fell to 96.4 cents/lb.
— Christopher Walljasper reports on agriculture and ag commodities for Reuters from Chicago.
