Cattle, hog futures climb on U.S. hot spell, firm meat prices

CHICAGO — Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures rose on Monday on spillover strength from outside markets including Wall Street, as well as firm wholesale beef prices and worries about hot weather stressing cattle in the Plains and Midwest, traders said.

CME August live cattle futures settled up 0.700 cent at 135.625 cents per lb, while October ended up 1.050 cents at 140.600 cents. In the feeder cattle market, August feeders finished up 0.325 cent at 176.675 cents per lb while back months were narrowly mixed as higher corn futures capped rallies.

Outlooks for sultry weather supported livestock as well as grain futures. The National Weather Service posted heat advisories on Monday across much of the Plains with temperatures forecast to top 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37.8 Celsius) in many areas this week.

“The heat we are having in the cattle belt – Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas – (is) taking weight off the cattle, causing rate-of-gain issues. That is some of the strength in the market,” said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based U.S. Commodities.

Additional support stemmed from early strength in equity markets, which tends to boost consumer interest in pricey cuts of beef. However, Wall Street indices turned down after the CME livestock markets closed.

Wholesale beef prices increased. Choice cuts of boxed beef rose by $1.64 to $270.55 per cwt on Monday and select cuts were up $0.87 at $242.66 per cwt, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Hog futures rose on strong wholesale pork prices along with weather jitters. The USDA on Friday quoted the U.S. pork carcass cutout value at $122.18 per cwt, the highest since mid-August of last year, although the cutout dipped by 22 cents to $121.96 by Monday afternoon.

August lean hogs settled up 2.300 cents at 112.125 cents per lb (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by Lincoln Feast)