Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – Cattle prices showed small declines while hog prices sharply rose at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Thursday.
United States President Donald Trump announced that certain imports from Mexico which fall under the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Trade Agreement will see tariffs delayed until April 2. Canada was also included in the official amendment after the markets closed.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture showed beef export sales at 13,393 tonnes for the week ended Feb. 27, a three-week low. Census data showed January beef exports totaled 230.19 million pounds, down 11.1 per cent from December and the lowest December total since 2017.
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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.
The April live cattle contract dropped 0.275 of a U.S. cent per pound to end Thursday at 196.275. The April feeder cattle contract lost 1.650 cents/lb. at 274.425.
The USDA reported mixed wholesale boxed beef prices on Thursday afternoon, with choice boxes down 42 cents at $313.12 per hundredweight and select boxes up 98 cents at $303.51.
In total, 42,449 tonnes of pork were sold for export during the week ended Feb. 27, the USDA added. The figure was 16.6 per cent above the same week last year and the second largest total this marketing year. Census data reported 576.82 million lbs. of pork shipped in January, down 1.9 per cent from last year and down 10.7 per cent from December.
April lean hogs jumped 1.950 cents/lb. at 86.650 after reaching its highest price in eight days at 87.550.
