Hogs

Chicago | Reuters –– Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures closed higher on Friday, supported by short-covering and positioning before the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s quarterly hog report at 2 p.m. CT, traders said. Analysts expect Friday’s data to show the porcine epidemic diarrhea virus hurt U.S. hog supplies while high hog prices fueled herd expansion.

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange hog futures fell hard on profit-taking after spiking to a new high driven by record-high wholesale pork values and strong prices for slaughter-ready hogs, traders said. Wednesday morning’s wholesale pork price, or cutout, surged $2.51 per hundredweight (cwt) from Tuesday to $134.04, surpassing the April record of $133.74,

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures closed higher on Monday after Friday’s government report confirmed tight supplies ahead, traders said. The U.S. Department of Agriculture cattle-on-feed report showed a seven per cent drop in the number of animals placed in U.S. feedlots in May. “We suspect the seven per cent decline

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle finished higher on Thursday in response to stronger-than-expected prices for market-ready or cash cattle, traders said. Cash cattle in Texas and Kansas moved at $150 per hundredweight (cwt), up $2 from last week, according to feedlot sources (all figures US$). Investors had anticipated weaker cash returns

Chicago | Reuters — Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures on Wednesday settled down their three-cent daily price limit on profit-taking, traders said. Lower live cattle future and fund liquidation hastened CME feeder cattle losses, they said. Feeder cattle futures reflect worries about how to make high-priced calves work with current market-ready cattle values and