Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange came out of the weekend in a similar way to how they entered it, showing downward momentum. Meanwhile, the United States prepares to issue tariffs on Canadian, Mexican and Chinese imports starting tomorrow.
The April live cattle contract dropped 0.400 U.S. cents per pound to end Monday at 192.250, but not before falling to its lowest level since Dec. 26 at 190.100 cents/lb.
The April feeder cattle contract lost 0.950 cents/lb. to close at 272.050. Its low for the day was 269.350, a level the contract hadn’t descended to since Feb. 24.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture reported stronger wholesale boxed beef prices on Monday afternoon, with choice boxes up $2.10 at $313.93 per hundredweight and select boxes up 36 cents at $302.41.
April lean hogs saw a minimal gain of 0.025 cents/lb. at 83.700 after dropping to 82.725 earlier in the day, its lowest point since Oct. 1.
