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Cattle Prices Rise As Beef Export Sales Jump


Live cattle prices rose Thursday after the government said beef export sales jumped nearly 70 percent.

Live cattle for August delivery rose 3 cents to settle at $1.0785 a pound.

The U.S. Agriculture Department said new beef export sales rose 68.9 percent from June 2 to June 9, reflecting growing overseas demand.

The growth comes even as drought conditions across the Southern Plains have forced ranchers to deliver cattle to feedlots earlier than usual so they can be fattened up before sale.

In the months ahead, it could become a supply issue because of dwindling numbers of young cattle, said Dennis Smith, a senior account executive at Archer Financial Services Inc.

The cattle market also has been affected wheat and corn prices as producers look for the best price before they buy either grain to feed livestock, said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting LLC. That has created price competition between the two grains.

In contracts for July delivery, wheat fell 35.25 cents, or 5 percent, to settle at $6.7325 a bushel, corn dropped 24.25 cents, or 3.3 percent, at $7.015 a bushel and soybeans fell 17.5 cents to $13.505 a bushel.

In other trading, investors sought relatively stable assets such as gold and silver on concerns about Greece's worsening debt crisis.

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