Sort & Cull

At this point, even I feel like I'm somewhat of a broken record, highlighting the market's new "record high" again this week! But what a beautiful phenomenon to be able to report to cattlemen who truly have never experienced something like this before.

To catch everyone up to speed, new all-time highs were scored again in last week's fed cash cattle market. Live cattle in Texas averaged $235.00 -- creating a new record high for the state. Live cattle in Nebraska averaged $245.63 -- creating a new high for the state. And dressed cattle prices saw the same phenomenon. Dressed cattle in Iowa averaged $383.69, dressed cattle in Nebraska averaged $383.72 and dressed cattle in Kansas averaged $382.69 -- all creating new record highs for the individual states.

But what remains unknown -- or maybe one should say unsettled -- about how last week's trade will affect this week's market is how many cattle packers were able to get bought. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 69,534 head. Of which 86% (59,569 head) were committed to the market's nearby delivery, while the remaining 14% (9,965 head) were committed to the market's deferred delivery. So, the lingering question remains: Did packers finally get enough cattle bought to be able to slow the cash cattle market's unprecedented rally?

No one ever expects fed cattle prices to rally through July, as typically, it's a time when supplies are heavy and, as boxed beef prices seasonally decline, fed cash cattle prices normally do as well. But feedlot managers have stayed prudent about their marketings and have advanced the market at every opportunity. There's a chance the fed cash cattle market may potentially just trade steady this week, as packers did buy a sizeable volume of cattle last week for the nearby delivery option. However, at the same time, packers won't be able to fully disengage and walk away from the market completely, as they need to continue to procure supplies so they're not short bought in the weeks ahead.

ShayLe Stewart can be reached at ShayLe.Stewart@dtn.com

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