Cattle futures ended the session with a 7c loss in October and a 10 cent loss in Feb. The other nearbys were stronger, but gains were limited to 17 cents. The feeders were also mixed with losses of as much as 90 cents in Sep, but +/- 30 cents in the others. USDA confirmed some light trade in NE, though volumes were too weak to establish a trend. The 9/08 CME Feeder Cattle Index increased by $1.21 to $250.42.
USDA’s WASDE report showed a 60m lb reduction for Q3 ’23 beef production, but Q4 was upped by 20m lbs to partially offset. That left the 2023 yearly total at 26.941 billion lbs. Expected 2024 output remained unchanged at 25.165 billion.
