USA: Cattle market review for week 8 of February 26, 2024

CME feeder cattle futures received strong support from Chicago Board of Trade corn futures, which fell below $4 a bushel on the monthly contract for the first time since November 2020 as huge U.S. and global inventories weighed on the market.

Improved weather on the Plains is boosting demand for feeder cattle in the cash market as producers can put animals out to pasture and gain weight relatively cheaply, says Dan Norcini, an independent cattle dealer, noting that limited U.S. cattle supplies are also supporting the market.

After trading closed, the USDA said in its monthly report that about 11.8 million HEAD of cattle were delivered to slaughter on Feb. 1, up 0.37% from a year earlier. Cattle placement in feedlots in January amounted to 1.79 million head, which is 7.4% less than in 2023.

Ahead of Friday's monthly report, analysts polled by REUTERS on average expected the government to report feedlot cattle placements fell 11.6% in January from a year earlier.

WEEKLY COST OF CUTTINGS CAT.CHOICE

CATTLE SALES

Sale of livestock, heads

Average weight

Week 7

Week 8

Weekly growth,%

Week 7

Week 8

Weekly growth,%

Bulls (live weight)

28 910

370

-98.7%

1 471

1,506

2.4%

Heifers (live weight)

14,921

276

-98.2%

1 321

1 372

3.9%

Steers (slaughter weight)

5 808

172

-97.0%

939

890

-5.2%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

1,646

110

-93.3%

829

871

5.1%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF CALLS

BEEF PRODUCTION

Index

Week 8

Previous week

A year ago

Weekly growth,%

Growth over the year, %

Slaughter volume

593,000

608,000

614,000

-2.5%

-3.4%

Live weight

1 384

1 385

1 377

-0.1%

0.5%

Slaughter weight

831

835

827

-0.5%

0.5%

Beef production (million pounds)

491.8

506.9

506.1

-3.0%

-2.8%

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 7

Week 8

Weekly growth,%

February

184.78

185.60

0.4%

April

187.55

187.90

0.2%

June

182.83

183.88

0.6%

Feeder cattle futures

March

251.03

254.58

1.4%

April

253.55

259.98

2.5%

May

255.65

262.08

2.5%

You can learn more about the state of the cattle market in the usa ( livestock prices , the cost of beef by category, production dynamics) in the weekly reviews of the MEAT market in RUSSIA and around the world from Meatinfo.ru. Weekly reviews are available as part of a subscription.