Brownfield Ag News by Brownfield Ag News

March 29, 2025 Another strong week for the cattle markets | Weekly Livestock Market Update

On this episode of Weekly Livestock Market Update, Brownfield's Meghan Grebner talks with University of Kentucky ag economist Kenny Burdine about cold storage and Quarterly Hogs and Pigs.

Market highlights:

The 5-market average fed steer price was up slightly this week to $212.95 for today.

April live cattle futures gained almost $2 on the week, closing Friday at $208.93.

Choice boxed beef price improved by over $8 per cwt, coming in at $333.83.

April feeder cattle futures were up $1.85 on the week closing at $286.83 today.

The national base hog carcass price was virtually unchanged at $86.90 for the week.

Pork cutout values were up $0.32 at $96.56 per cwt today.

April lean hog futures were up 1% this week, closing at $86.80 today.

Weekly Slaughter:

Cattle slaughter was sharply higher this week, estimated at 609,000 head for the week, but still over 5% below last year, year-to-date.

Hog slaughter was also a bit higher, estimated at 2.48 million head for the week. Hog slaughter is also down thus far in 2025 by 3.7%.

Calf slaughter continues to run low, down roughly 35% year-over-year.

Beef cow slaughter has been running about 20% below 2024 levels.

Cold Storage:

February frozen beef supplies were down 6% from January and down 2% from February 2024.

Frozen pork supplies were up 4% from January, but down 8% from last year.

Frozen chicken supplies were pretty steady – 1% below January and 1% of last February.

The supply of bellies was actually up 17% from January, but 24% lower than last year.

Frozen veal supplies also stood out, down 18% year over year.

Quarterly Hogs and Pigs:

Most pre-report estimates pointed to higher inventories, but hog and pig inventories were steady to slightly lower from year-ago.

March 1, all hogs and pigs were down about 0.2%. Market inventory was down by about the same, but March 2024 market inventory was revised downward.

Breeding inventory was down by about 0.6%

Next week’s reports:

» Prospective Plantings

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