Fed cattle prices early Monday were being called steady this week, with the market being supported by the aftermath of a harsh winter storm in the Plains and pressured by likely good packer inventories of cattle.
Last week, cattle sold at mostly $82 per hundredweight with Texas trading being done at $83 to $83.50; in dressed markets, cattle sold at $131 to mostly $132. Texas sold about 22,000, Kansas about 25,500, Nebraska 50,000 and Colorado 4,000.
Market analysts and brokers said the number of cattle being offered to packer buyers could decline this week. Sales last week were larger than many expected, and the winter storm could have caused enough weight loss that cattle owners will wait a week or so to put cattle up for sale.
It’s thought likely that some packing plants also had trouble operating on Saturday because of the blizzard. It’s not known, however, how much of an effect this had on total slaughter on Saturday, how slowly the plants get back up on Monday or how well any kill issues can be resolved.
Cattle in some areas may be subject to a lot of stress from the blizzard, market analysts and brokers said. Full tallies, though, may not be known for weeks since many states don’t collect such data.
The HedgersEdge packer margin index is a minus $12.15 a head.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported its latest choice boxed beef composite carcass price at $138.35 per hundredweight, down 28 cents, while select beef was up 1 cent at $131.07. The volume of fabricated loads was 101 and there were 45 loads of trimmings and coarse grind product reported.
Urner Barry’s Yellow Sheet Thursday said beef markets were generally void of interest as most participants were on the sidelines waiting to re-enter the market after the Christmas holiday.
Source: www.cattlenetwork.com
www.PerryFarmsGrassFedBeef.com
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