CATTLE TRADE: Prices on a live basis primarily ranged from $138 to $141 while dressed prices were mainly $224 to $226. A year ago, prices were $119.71 live and $190.56 dressed (Griffith)

LIVESTOCK COMMENTS: Beef cow slaughter is 15.5 percent higher year to date compared to 2021 and is expected to remain elevated as drought continues to grip the western third of the United States

U.S. CATTLE REPORT: Record May 1 COF inventory; Weekly beef production 3rd highest so far in 2022; Feeders down $12 this month; C/S widens past $19

CATTLE ON FEED: U.S. inventory reported at 11.97 million head on May 1st, up 2% from last year. This is the highest May 1 inventory on record. The U.S. inventory has been larger than 11 million head for 54 out of the last 55 months

NATIONAL STEER TRACKER: The largest steer string (700-899#) sold this week was 203 steers (860#) from El Reno, Oklahoma at $145.50. The average price for the top 10 steer strings sold this week was $150.71, compared to $157.26 last week

NATIONAL CALF TRACKER: The largest calf string sold this week was 80 steers (479#) from El Dorado, Kansas at $210.00. The average price paid this week for the top 10 calf strings was $185.55, compared to $206.53 last week.

NATIONAL CATTLE TRACKER: The largest steer and heifer string sold this week was 252 steers (907#) from Kimball, South Dakota at $155.00. The second largest string was 241 steers (1005#) from El Reno, Oklahoma at $135.25

CME LIVESTOCK: Live Cattle: $131.55 (-0.475); Feeder Cattle: $163.925 (-1.275) Hogs: $109.00 (+2.025); Milk: $24.65 (-0.20) (Feeders down more than $12 since May 3rd)

CME GRAINS: Corn: $7.7875 (-4.50); Soybeans: $17.0525 (+14.75); Wheat: $11.6875 (-31.75); Cotton: $142.27 (-5.43) (Wheat down more than a dollar in 3 days)

ENERGY PRICES: Crude Oil: $110.28 (+0.39); Heating Oil: $3.7391 (-0.0529); Natural Gas: $8.083 (-0.225) (Nat-gas down on outlook for cooler U.S. temperatures)

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