Live cattle futures were $0.62 to $1.25 higher yesterday. October gained $0.87 on the day, to close at $104.85. Feeder cattle futures gave back some of the early gains but still ended $1.60 to $1.72 higher. October feeders are 66 cents above the day lagged index (@$134.30) with two trade days left before expiration. The 10/26 CME Feeder Cattle Index was $133.64, down another 6 cents. USDA reported cash trades have yet to establish a trend for the week through Tuesday. FCE’s weekly online auction has 2,012 head of cattle listed. USDA reported wholesale boxed beef prices at $206.70 cwt. and $188.67 cwt. for Choice and Select respectively. That tightened the spread $1.31 by way of a $1.13 drop in Choice and an 18 cent bump to Select. Tuesday’s FI cattle slaughter was at 117,000 head. After revising Monday 3k lower, the WTD slaughter is estimated at 232,000 head. That was down 7,000 from last week but up 3,000 yr/yr.

--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management