Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures rose across the board on Friday with cattle continuing a run of record-setting prices.
Most active April live cattle settled at 203.025 cents per pound, up 2.300 cents. February live cattle futures closed at 204.775 cents per pound, up 3.675 cents.
Most active March feeder cattle futures rose 2.500 cents to settle at 276.575 cents per pound. April feeder cattle closed at 275.450 cents per pound, a gain of 3.000 cents.
The USDA reported choice boxed beef at $372.92 per cwt this afternoon, down $3.04 from Thursday. Select boxed beef was priced at $312.29 per cwt, down $0.92.
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
Cattle and calves on feed in the U.S. were down one per cent from one year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released today. Cattle on feed for the U.S. slaughter market for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 head or more totaled 11.8 million head on January 1.
The inventory included 7.25 million steers and steer calves, which is up one per cent from the previous year. Heifer and heifer calves numbered 4.58 million head, down three per cent from 2024.
Lean hogs made slight gains. Most active April futures closed at 88.200 cents per pound, up 1.000 cents. February lean hogs settled at 82.300 cents per pound, up 0.175 cents.
The USDA estimated pork carcass cutout value at $91.69 per cwt, down $0.08 from Thursday.
—All prices in USD
