Packers moved aggressively into the cash market last week, starting bids near $250 per hundredweight live and pushing both cash and futures sharply higher early in the week. Futures activity accelerated again on Friday morning before retreating into the close, with live cattle posting a bearish key reversal on the day. $7.775 gain (June) was the headline move as June live cattle futures finished the week up $7.775 per hundredweight and August settled $6.175 higher.
Feeder contracts climbed as well, with May and August feeder cattle futures finishing the week $10.50 and $10.40 per hundredweight higher, respectively. Open interest in live cattle futures rose by 20,569 contracts last week, a likely sign of heavy managed-money buying that amplified the market moves. Traders took a mid-week pause after early-week gains, but aggressive buying resumed later in the week.
Cash fed cattle bids firmed across regions. In the South, live cattle traded at $254 to $256 per hundredweight, up $8 to $9 from the prior week, while the North saw live trade at $252 to $256, up $6 to $8. Dressed deals in the North traded at $400 per hundredweight, a $14 increase from the previous week, and carcass cutouts pushed higher with Choice at $389.03 and Select at $387.77 per hundredweight. $254–$256 cash South highlights the strongest regional cash levels reported.
Boxed beef strength
Packers' buying aligned with rising boxed-beef values, particularly middle meats, which gained traction into spring and supported both cash and futures. Choice and Select cutouts each moved higher on the week, helping packers justify the higher cash bids as they sought to secure loads for ongoing processing. By Wednesday packers had secured enough cattle that much of the cash trade was completed early in the week.
Slaughter came in at 534,000 head, 5,000 higher than the prior week but 29,000 below the comparable week a year earlier, underscoring the tightness in fed supplies that market participants cited as a supporting factor. Extremely tight fed cattle supplies are expected to persist through the remainder of the quarter, which should continue to underpin cash and futures into spring. 534,000 head slaughter was the reported weekly kill.
Packers are expected to manage throughput over the next few weeks to help mitigate negative margins, a dynamic that will keep processors active in the market as boxed-beef values and middle-meat demand rise. The combination of strong boxed-beef prices and limited fed cattle availability is likely to keep volatility elevated across both cash markets and futures in the near term.
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