Cattle at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange continued their upward march on Thursday after Wednesday’s jump, while lean hogs were mixed.
Most active April live cattle settled at 200.725, up 0.950 cents per pound and setting a new life-of-contract high. Second-most traded February live cattle closed at 201.100 cents, up 1.050 cents per pound—also a record high.
Feeder cattle also continued their record-setting climb. Most active March feeder cattle futures closed at 274.075 cents a pound, up 1.000 cents. May feeder cattle closed at 270.475 cents a pound, also up 1.000 cents.
The USDA put choice boxed beef at $330.96 per cwt, down $1.06 from Wednesday. Select boxed beef was priced at $317.21, down $0.78 per cwt.
Most active April lean hog futures settled at 87.200 cents per pound, down 0.075 cents. February lean hogs closed up 0.650 cents at 82.125 cents per pound.
USDA estimated pork carcass cutout values at $91.77 per cwt, up $1.60 per cwt.
