Feeder Cattle Close More Than $9 Lower

December live cattle ended the day down $6.05 at $241.83 per hundredweight (cwt). November feeder cattle closed down $9.25 at $371.70 per cwt. December lean hogs were down 23¢ at $82.38 per cwt.

“Cattle futures were under heavy pressure today following statements from the White House that high beef prices are being looked at,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting. “President Trump announced that he would like to see cheaper beef and has ‘magic’ that can make that happen. While high-priced beef is the result of low cattle numbers, the government’s own policy is a major factor, including the tariffs on Brazilian imports that are used for grind. Cattle were both at all-time highs and overbought, causing a massive flush of weak longs following the White House announcement, especially in feeders where we had limit losses. This weakness spilled into live cattle but reports of cash trades $4–5 higher on live and $7–9 on dressed sales limited losses.” 

December corn ended the day up less than a penny at $4.22½ per bushel.

November soybeans closed up 8¾¢ at $10.19½ per bushel. 

December CBOT wheat closed up 1¼¢ at $5.03¾ per bushel. December KC wheat was up 2¾¢ at $4.91½ per bushel. December Minneapolis wheat was down a penny at $5.48½.

Published: 2:48 p.m. CT

Corn and Soy Start Day in the Green: 9:17 a.m. CT

Not long past 8:30 a.m. CT, December corn was up a penny at $4.22¾ per bushel.

November soybeans were up 6¢ at $10.16¾ per bushel.

December CBOT wheat was down less than a penny at $5.02¼ per bushel. December KC wheat was down 1¼¢ at $4.87½ per bushel. December Minneapolis wheat was up 1¼¢ at $5.50¾.

December live cattle were down $2.68 at $245.20 per hundredweight (cwt). November feeder cattle were down $6.60 at $374.35 per cwt. December lean hogs were unchanged at $82.60 per cwt.

Reuters reported President Donald Trump said his administration is working on a deal to lower the price of beef.

“The price of beef is ‘higher than we want it, and that’s going to be coming down pretty soon too. We did something,’ Trump added, without elaborating,” Reuters said in a story.

December crude oil was up 8¢ at $57.07 per barrel shortly past 8:30 a.m. CT.

The U.S. Dollar Index December contract was up to 98.20.

The S&P 500 Index was down 8.92 points, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 111.12 points. 

Published: 9:17 a.m. CT