We first reported on Thursday that U.S. feeder cattle futures had hit an all-time high. The boost of optimism was originally hinged on a round of USDA reports, released Thursday morning, that were bearish for corn (GET REPORT INFO HERE). As corn futures dropped Thursday and continued the decline Friday, ideas that feed costs will be slashed blossomed as well as thoughts that feedlots are going to becoming more and more interested in buying cattle.
According to Drovers Cattle Network,
Most actively traded March feeder cattle futures rose to an all-time high of 152.775 cents per lb, eclipsing Thursday’s peak of 152.300 cents and set when Chicago Board of Trade corn futures tumbled the 40-cent daily trading limit.
Benchmark March feeder cattle on Friday closed up 0.575 cent at 152.375 cents, for weekly gain of 1.6 percent, the largest one-week gain in three weeks.
CBOT corn closed lower on Friday amid expected rainfall over the dry crop growing regions of Argentina and spillover pressure from Thursday’s USDA January crop and production report, which showed larger-than-expected U.S. corn stockpile.
“It is not surprising that feeders are high – we are running out of feeder type cattle,” said Joe Ocrant, president of Oak Investment Group. “Weaker corn also certainly supported stronger feeder cattle,” he said.
The markets were closed Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day. They’ll open back up Tuesday after having plenty of time to figure out the new set of market fundamentals. To get market details, visit our Livestock Markets page.
© Northern Ag Network 2012
With Information from Drovers Cattle Network
Haylie Shipp
