USA: Live cattle higher to start the week

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live cattle closed higher, and feeders were mixed ahead of widespread direct cash business. February live cattle closed $.55 higher at $156.10 and April live cattle closed $.55 higher at $159.90. January feeder cattle closed $.27 lower at $183.65 and March feeder cattle closed $.12 higher at $185.22. It was a typically quiet Monday for direct cash cattle trade activity. Bids and asking prices weren’t established. Showlists this week are higher in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado, but somewhat lower in Kansas. Significant trade volume will likely hold out until midweek or later. At the Oklahoma National Stockyards, compared to last week feeder steers and heifers were unevenly steady. Steer calves were unevenly steady and heifer calves were $3 to $5 lower. The USDA says demand was moderate to good and quality was average to attractive. Receipts were down on the week and the year. Feeder supply included 59% steers and 46% of the offering was ...