Commodities : Cattle Futures Prices Slide

Cattle prices continued to slide Tuesday on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, while live hogs were mixed still reflecting government reports released last week.

Cattle futures followed the influence of cash prices on wholesale markets, where both live animals and beef carcasses fell 1 cent a pound, said Chuck Levitt, a livestock analyst in Chicago with Shearson Lehman Bros.

Levitt said cattle producers are faced not only with the news last week that marketing of live cattle was down in May, but with their own strategy last week to withhold animals from the market because prices were down.

The Agriculture Department reported that the number of cattle sold in May was 2% lower that May of 1984.

“Now, bids are even lower and the number of cattle is even bigger than before,” he said.

Live cattle for delivery in June have fallen nearly 10 cents a pound since April 1.

Hog producers took the opposite approach and are in a stronger position as a result, Levitt said.