Live cattle futures closed the Friday session with contracts $3.90 to $4.50 lower. February was $1.57 lower this week. Cash trade this week centered in the $233 range across the South and $232-235 for the North. Feeder cattle gave back much of the strength from this week, as contracts were down $6.50 to $8.10 on Friday. January was still up $1.20 this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 73 cents to $370.15 on January 15. The markets will be off on Monday for the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.
USDA’s APHIS website on Thursday showed several new cases of New World Screwworm in Mexico over the last week, including 6 new cases in Tamaulipas, a bordering state to the US. Active cases in that state are up to 8.
