CHICAGO – Higher cash beef and cattle prices this week lifted most Chicago cattle futures to two-year highs on Friday and set contract highs in nearly all months.
Hog futures finished lower with their premium to the cash markets a concern. Also talk that cash pork prices are near a peak encouraged selling.
In the cattle, beef plants paid $102 per cwt this week for market-ready steers and heifers in Texas and paid $101 in Kansas. Both prices were $3 or more higher in their respective markets than a week earlier.
"I still think the path of least resistance is higher," said Dennis Smith, broker with Archer Financial. "I think the fundamentals are really strong."
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