Live cattle continued the rally on Tuesday with contracts closing $1.20 to $1.90 higher at the close. Still no deliveries have been scheduled against April futures as of Tuesday. Cash action has been quiet this week, with last week reported @ $182 in the South and Northern action at $293-295 in the beef and $184-185 live. Feeder cattle pushed higher on Tuesday, with gains of 80 cents in April and $2.37 to $2.97 among the rest of the board. The CME Feeder Cattle index was back up 29 cents on April 15 to $241.36. 

USDA’s Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Tuesday afternoon report. Choice was back down $2.86 to $298.02, with Select up $1.30 to $292.64. That narrowed the Chc/Sel spread back down to $5.38. Tuesday’s USDA estimated cattle slaughter was pegged at 124,000, taking the week to date total to 245,000 head. That is down 1,000 head from the previous week and down 5,806 head from the same week last year.

Apr 24 Live Cattle  closed at $181.500, up $1.200,

Jun 24 Live Cattle  closed at $175.725, up $1.900,

Aug 24 Live Cattle  closed at $172.925, up $1.800,

Apr 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $240.350, up $0.800,

May 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $240.975, up $2.975,

Aug 24 Feeder Cattle  closed at $252.350, up $2.575,