U.S. livestock: Cattle regain ground, hogs dip

Chicago cattle futures regained ground on Wednesday after falling off a cliff late last week.

Most-active December live cattle contracts closed at 230.900 cents a pound, up 4.325 cents. February futures settled at 229.450 cents, up 5.350 cents per pound.

Most-traded January feeder cattle futures gained 9.150 cents to close at 334.025 cents per pound. March contracts closed at 328.550 cents, up 8.900 cents.

Choice boxed beef gained $1.73 to end the afternoon at $381.38 per cwt, the USDA reported. Select beef was valued at $361.79 per cwt, up $1.79.

Mexican Agriculture Minister Julio Berdegue said on Wednesday that Mexico and the United States have not yet set a date to resume Mexican cattle exports amid an outbreak of the flesh-eating screwworm parasite.

Berdegue said he spoke to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a video conference and that they had made advances but still did not have a date for reopening the U.S. border to Mexican cattle.

The U.S. has kept its border mostly closed to imports of Mexican cattle since May in a bid to keep out New World screwworm.

Most-active December lean hog futures settled at 80.775 cents a pound, down 0.050 cents. February lean hogs closed at 82.325 cents a pound, down 0.125 cents.

Pork carcass cutout value was set at $100.24 per cwt in the USDA’s afternoon report, up $0.22.

-With files from Reuters