It’s another quiet start for direct cash cattle business following a very light, scattered round of business on Monday.  Bids and asking prices have yet to be established.  Significant trade volume will likely hold out until later in the week.  There were a handful of deals in Iowa on Monday at $185 live, but not enough business to establish an accurate price trend. 

Boxed beef is sharply higher at midday on solid demand for light offerings.  Choice is $6.28 higher at $308.06 and Select is $2.02 higher at $279.75.  The Choice/Select spread is $28.31. 

At the Joplin Regional Stockyards in Missouri, feeder steers were steady to $4 higher and feeder heifers were steady to $2 higher.

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