AgResource Daily Cattle Analysis: Cattle and feeder cattle futures were higher on Wednesday, and a firm outlook is offered for early trade today. October live cattle reclaimed Tuesday’s correction, and December marked the best close for the week. Feeder cattle marked even better gains, with nearby contracts more than $2 higher.
Cash trade this week has so far been light and scattered. Live sales in Iowa have been steady at $182, and dressed sales have been $2-4 higher at $289-291. Live trade in Kansas was around steady at $180-181. But meaningful trade volumes have yet to develop.
The September Consumer Prices report showed that the average retail beef price in August rose 1% from July to a record high of $8.52/Lb. The price was 3.5% higher than a year ago, marking the largest year-over-year increase in 4 months. The retail price has marked year-over-year gains in 16 of the last 17 months, while domestic demand has been unchanged or higher in 12 of the last 15 months.
October cattle look to hold in a broad range in the coming weeks, with support at $172-174 and resistance at $180-182.
