Live cattle futures were down $3.70 to $7.22 on the Friday session follow comments from President Trump on Thursday. December was just 70 cents lower on the week. Cash trade settled in at $240-241 across the country. The Friday Fed Cattle exchange saw 240.50-242 sales on 166 of the 1,184 head offered, with $236-240 bids on other lots. Feeder cattle fell $7.72 in the nearby October contract, as the rest of the board was locked limit down. November fell $4.20 this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another $1.41 at $376.51 on October 16. Both live and feeder cattle will have expanded limits ($10.75 and $13.75, respectively) on Monday.
In a Thursday afternoon release, President Trump stated the administration had a plan to bring down the price of beef. No specifics were released on any plan, though the market took a risk off approach.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Friday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $16.50. Choice boxes were up 66 cents to $366.77, while Select was $1.34 higher at $350.27. USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter for this week was estimated at 567,000 head. That is 20,000 head above last week but 40,284 shy of the same week last year.