Too few cattle offered last week, as there was only 1 reported auction, to compare with this week's much larger offering. Higher to much higher undertones prevailed as cattle feeders were feeling optimistic again as the CME Live Cattle futures finally found firm ground and posted limit higher gains the first two days of the week. Most feeder cattle producers simply shut their gates and refused to sell any feeder cattle the past couple weeks but now as the futures contracts started to recover they were willing to offer some for sale again. Cattle feeders were able to get 120.00 for their fat cattle, which was sorely needed, as beef demand has been robust and packer margins very large. The futures contracts did not respond accordingly to the higher cash fed cattle trade on Wednesday as limit losses returned on Thursday. Cattle feeders have been punished severely by the market the last few weeks and were desperately in need of a market high enough to reach their breakevens. The equity losses the feeding industry has had to endure in the last 10 months has been catastrophic. Cattle feeders are ready to buy cattle but they need to see stability in the market before they step in as more losses would mean financial ruin and exiting the industry.
| Head | Wt range | Avg wt | Price range | Avg price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heifers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 735 | — | 733 | 122.50–135.75 | 130.54 |
| 33 | — | 525 | 147.50–150.00 | 149.47 |
| 45 | — | 857 | 108.50–118.00 | 114.62 |
| 148 | — | 577 | 139.25–147.00 | 143.34 |
| 175 | — | 765 | 116.00–131.00 | 126.94 |
| 610 | — | 671 | 132.75–142.00 | 138.84 |
| 120 | — | 833 | 110.00–117.00 | 111.90 |
| 42 | — | 473 | 144.00–162.50 | 153.15 |
| 13 | — | 969 | 96.00–103.00 | 101.12 |
| 205 | — | 632 | 135.50–142.00 | 140.18 |
| 8 | — | 417 | 149.50 | 149.50 |
| 6 | — | 395 | 145.00 | 145.00 |
| Heifers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 7 | — | 614 | 122.00 | 122.00 |
| 13 | — | 933 | 98.00 | 98.00 |
| Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Replacement$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 13 | — | 844 | 133.00 | 133.00 |
| 32 | — | 774 | 120.00–134.00 | 129.57 |
| 50 | — | 861 | 124.50 | 124.50 |
| Heifers — Medium and Large 1 · Fancy$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 98 | — | 581 | 156.00 | 156.00 |
| Steers — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 53 | — | 1,000 | 122.00 | 122.00 |
| 265 | — | 873 | 116.50–133.00 | 126.19 |
| 9 | — | 427 | 176.00–179.00 | 177.35 |
| 110 | — | 576 | 161.00–171.50 | 167.59 |
| 88 | — | 931 | 114.00–119.00 | 116.46 |
| 37 | — | 533 | 165.00–175.00 | 170.17 |
| 187 | — | 963 | 117.75–122.00 | 120.22 |
| 11 | — | 466 | 179.00–181.00 | 179.92 |
| 610 | — | 726 | 134.00–150.50 | 143.19 |
| 352 | — | 828 | 124.75–141.50 | 130.12 |
| 284 | — | 778 | 126.00–143.50 | 138.26 |
| 173 | — | 630 | 159.25–168.00 | 164.26 |
| 117 | — | 668 | 143.50–160.75 | 152.23 |
| Steers — Medium and Large 1-2$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 18 | — | 783 | 128.25 | 128.25 |
| 14 | — | 628 | 145.50–148.50 | 147.41 |
| 15 | — | 686 | 141.00 | 141.00 |
| 20 | — | 725 | 127.50–128.50 | 127.99 |
| 7 | — | 566 | 150.00 | 150.00 |
| Bulls — Medium and Large 1$ per cwt · actual wt | ||||
| 13 | — | 605 | 153.00 | 153.00 |
| 10 | — | 691 | 135.00 | 135.00 |
| 6 | — | 548 | 159.00 | 159.00 |
| 10 | — | 796 | 122.75 | 122.75 |