There was a very big run of feeder cattle at test auctions this week, with 53,600 head, up 7,000 head higher than last year. This is surprising given the fact that drought conditions have already pushed much more cattle off of wheat since the first of the year. Prices were mostly $1-5 lower with the lowest prices on Wednesday, even though the CME improved some that day. However the big runs have the feedlots extremely full.

Turning to slaughter cows, cow receipts at the test auctions were basically steady with last week but 2,000 higher than last year. The cow prices were mostly $1-3 lower for the week but similar to last year. Cow meat prices continue to improve which is normal this time of the year.