Cattle Futures Prices Fall

Cattle futures prices declined Thursday after rallying for seven sessions on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Other livestock and meat futures also were lower. On other markets, silver futures advanced while gold retreated, grain and soybeans were lower and energy futures were mostly a little higher.

“A lot of people were liquidating their positions” in the meat complex, said Charlie Richardson, an analyst in Denver with Lind-Waldock.

Cattle futures, particularly the nearby delivery, have put on a strong performance for the last week or so, he said. There were seven consecutive session where the April contract closed higher.

“So, some people wanted to count some money,” Richardson said.

Also, he said, the severe storms in the Western states are over, highways are opening again and the kills are returning to normal.

Some observers believe the storms have backed up some cattle in the pipe line, he said. “But I don’t believe that to be the case, because supplies were tight to begin with.”

But even if there is some surplus, Richardson said, this should be offset by some lower weights caused by weather stress.