Strong feeder cattle prices in November encouraged more producer selling, said Derrell Peel, Oklahoma State University Extension livestock marketing specialist, in a letter called Cow-Calf Corner.
Oklahoma’s combined feeder auction prices spiked to record levels the week after Thanksgiving, especially for the lightweight calves and stockers, Peel said. The price for 500-pound, Med/Large, No. 1 steers was $360.99 per cwt., a new record.
HEAVYWEIGHTS IN DEMAND
Lightweight feeder prices dropped the second week of December with the 500-pound steers posting the third highest weekly price of the year at $342.57 per cwt, he said, just slightly less than the spring price peak of $349.43 in March.
The bigger feeder cattle prices continued to grind higher, Peel said. The price of 800-pound Med/Large, No. 1 steers in Oklahoma was $260.58 per wt. in mid-December, pennies more than the previous record at the end of June.
The red-hot feeder cattle market in December prompted strong feeder cattle sales, he said. At the end of August, year-to-date Oklahoma feeder cattle auction volumes were down more than 102,000 head from last year, a decrease of 12.5%.
However, dry conditions prompted more feeder sales with year over year larger weekly volumes for nine straight weeks in September and October, Peel said. By the beginning of November, year-to-date feeder auction totals were down 5.0%, or just over 50,000 head.
A THANKSGIVING SLUMP
Auction volumes dropped ahead of Thanksgiving, marking the year-to-date decrease back over 74,000 head in two weeks, he said. However, large volumes in the last two weeks of November and the first half of December brought the year-to-date decrease down to just over 36,000 head, a scant 3.1% less than last year.
The Oklahoma weekly feeder volume for the second week of December was 47,448 head, the largest weekly volume in several years, Peel said. With just one week of auction sales remaining for the year, the Oklahoma combined feeder auction total for 2024 is 1.14 million head compared with 1.18 million last year.
Although the total feeder auction volume decreased relatively little this year compared to last, there is one change that could be significant, he said. Since the middle of the year, the percentage of heifers in the weekly volume has decreased from the past two years.
The average weekly heifer percentage since July has been 38.7% compared with 43.1% in the first half of the year, Peel said. The average for 2023 was 42.6% and in 2022 was 41.7%, indicating that Oklahoma producers are holding back a few heifers.
CATTLE, BEEF RECAP
The USDA reported formula and contract base prices for live FOB steers and heifers this week ranged from $191.00 per cwt to $195.22, compared with last week’s range of $191.52 to $194.79 per cwt. FOB dressed steers, and heifers went for $300.56 per cwt to $307.99, compared with $299.65 to $307.99.
The USDA choice cutout Thursday was up $4.41 per cwt at $320.39 while select was up $2.02 at $288.77. The choice/select spread widened to $31.62 from $29.23 with 131 loads of fabricated product and 55 loads of trimmings and grinds sold into the spot market.
The USDA-listed weighted average wholesale price for fresh 90% lean beef was $320.45 per cwt, and 50% beef was $81.54.
The USDA said basis bids for corn from feeders in the Southern Plains were unchanged at $1.19 to $1.35 a bushel over the Mar corn contract, which settled at $4.53 3/4, up $0.05 1/4.
No delivery intentions were posted for the Dec live cattle contract Thursday.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index for the seven days ended Wednesday was $260.77 per cwt, down $2.28. This compares with Thursday’s Jan contract settlement of $259.30, up $3.45.