USA: Live cattle firm, lean hogs ease

Live cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) climbed on Friday, supported by resilient cash cattle prices across the US Plains this week, Reuters reported, citing traders. "We had cash come right back," said Joe Kooima, commodity broker at Kooima Kooima Varilek Trading Inc. "Cash was a dollar better in the south." Cash cattle bids rebounded in both the northern and southern US plains, after slipping earlier in the week, trading at $158.00 per hundredweight (cwt) in Nebraska, while cash bids in parts of the Texas panhandle climbed a dollar to $154.00, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) said. Cash could see pressure if processors continue to ease slaughter rates. Through Saturday, processors are set to kill 652,000 head, down 11,000 head from the same period last week and 30,000 fewer than the same period in 2022, according to USDA data. Boxed beef prices were mixed much of the week, but ended higher, with choice cuts adding $1.65 to $248.93 per cwt, while ...