At the close, live cattle futures were 42 to 55 cents in the red. Feeder cattle futures weakened by $107 to $1.40 on Wednesday. Jan feeders were down 2 cents to $135.62 ahead of tomorrow’s expiration. The 1/26 CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 13 cents to $134.83. The Central Stockyards’ FCE auction sold 1,128 of the 1,570 southern cattle listed for $113. KS pens received no bids. TX and OK Bids were mostly $112.50 - $113 and asks were $113-$115. Outside of the FCE, cash trade has been light to nonexistent. Estimates ahead of the Semi-annual Cattle Inventory Report show traders are looking for a 0.4% to 0.2% smaller herd as of Jan1. Heifer replacements are expected to be 0.8% to 3% lower than Jan 1 2020, with the trade average estimate for 5.662m head. Wholesale Boxed Beef prices continued were higher again on Wednesday. Choice boxes were 60 cents higher to $229.66 cwt. and Select boxes were up $1.66 to $218.99. USDA has the WTD FI cattle slaughter at 351,000 head through Wednesday. That exceeds last week’s pace by 3,000 head but trails last year by 13,000 head. 

--- provided by Brugler Marketing & Management