Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle and feeder cattle futures tumbled under pressure from weakness in the cash market on Wednesday, traders said.
Lean hog futures rebounded after sliding on Tuesday to their lowest level in about seven months.
In the cash market, cattle traded at mostly $228 per hundredweight in southern areas last week, down $3 from the prior week. Prices fell by another $4 or so on Wednesday, a trader said.
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CME February live cattle futures LCG26 closed down 3.6 cents at 217.250 cents per pound. January feeder cattle futures FCF26 dropped 4.6 cents to close at 321.450 cents per pound.
The markets remained volatile after U.S. President Donald Trump said in recent weeks that beef prices needed to decline to ease financial burdens on consumers. On Friday, Trump rolled back tariffs on more than 200 food products, including beef.
Beef prices set records this year as U.S. cattle supplies have dwindled to their lowest level in decades after a years-long drought burned up pasture lands and hiked feeding costs.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said in a NewsNation Live interview that she attended her fourth meeting on cattle and beef at the White House on Wednesday. The administration in January will launch a $100 million campaign to promote American beef as it is working to bring prices down, she said.
Traders were waiting for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to issue a Cattle on Feed report on Friday, after the agency did not release the monthly report in October due to the federal government’s shutdown. Analysts estimated the inventory of cattle on feed in U.S. feedlots on November 1 was down 2.2% from a year earlier.
In the hog market, CME February futures LHG26 finished up 1 cent at 79.025 cents per pound. The contract bounced after dropping on Tuesday to its lowest price since April 24.
