Week ending Oct. 27, 2023

It was a challenging week when reviewing trends in last week’s cattle trade. The national average feeder steer price was sharply down, closing the week down $7.43 at $239.80. Feeder cattle futures closed the week down $5.32 to $7.35 in the front three months of trade. Despite these declines on feeder cattle, fed cattle held relatively steady. Northern trade was only down $1 at $185. Southern trade held steady at $185.

Slaughter cows were also down, yet not as sharply — trading $1 to $4 lower. The cutter cow cutout saw a decline of $2.22, closing at $231.34.

Good news does reside in the boxed beef cutout. Choice cutouts closed the week up $2.19 at $307.57. Select cutouts increased $2.05, closing at $280.12. The Choice/Select spread increased $0.14, closing at $27.45.