NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 12/23/2023
By USDA-MO Dept of Ag Market News
RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total
This Week: 103,100 36,300 1,300 140,700
Last Week: 191,800 36,600 46,100 274,500
Year Ago: N/A N/A N/A N/A
Compared to last week, a light test of steers and heifers sold 4.00 to 10.00 higher. A much lighter offering as many auction markets did not host a sale because of the Christmas holiday and this coming week will be much in the same. Good to very good demand for calves and limited number of yearlings.
Order buyers take this coming week off and enjoy life a little without having to worry about getting their loads squared up. Some cattle been running out in cornstalks or large trap pastures in the Northern Plains and are light to medium fleshed with others in background lots getting pushed and with the warm weather put on extra pounds of fat and sold with a discount. Buyers continue to look for cattle that had been preconditioned in the fall and most look for cattle vaccinated with a modified live vaccine.
The calendar has now turned to Winter and it has come in with a bang. Weather across the North Plains this past weekend left a considerable amount of snow in its wake along with temps that will chill you to the bone.
On light trading, negotiated cash fed cattle trade, live sales in the Southern Plains were reported steady to 1.00 higher at 170.00 to 171.00. In Nebraska, live sales sold 2.00 higher at 170.00 to 172.00, while the dressed sales sold 3.00 higher at 270.00 to 271.00. Choice boxed beef closed the week 1.29 higher at 292.93 while Select was 0.33 higher at 261.15 for the same period.
Weekly Cattle Slaughter under federal inspection estimated at 621K, 28K less than last week and 69K more than a year ago.
The auction receipts on this report is nearly 500K less than the previous five-year average, alluding that the smaller cow herd has not been rebuilding yet at this point in time.
This is the last National Feeder Cattle Summary report for the year. Here’s to you and yours having a Happy New Year. The next publish date of this report will be January 8, 2024.
Auction volume this week included 50% weighing over 600 lbs and 42 percent heifers.
