Live cattle futures fell weaker on Friday, as most contracts fell 47 cents to $1.75. February was an exception, up 35 cents on cash strength, with the weekly move +95 cents. Friday’s open interest was 243 contracts lower. Cash trade settled in at $238-240 live across the country and $375-378 dressed. The Friday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed sales of $240-241 live on 719 head, with dressed trade at 375 on 36 head of the 1,510 head listed. Feeder cattle futures fell $4.85 to $5 in the nearbys. OI was up 391 contracts. March still held onto a dime gain last week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $4.00 to $370.69 on January 29.
The annual Cattle Inventory report from USDA showed all cattle and calves down 0.37% from last year at 86.155 million head. Beef cows were tallied at 27.607 million head, down 1.02%, with replacement heifers up 0.89% yr/yr at 4.714 million head.
