Direct cash cattle trade activity remains quiet.  No bids have surfaced.  Asking prices are around $186-plus in parts of the South, while the North has yet to be established.  While business could pick up this afternoon, it’s likely the bulk of the week’s business is going to hold out until sometime Thursday or Friday. 

Boxed beef is lower at midday on light demand for heavy offerings.  Choice is $1.62 lower at $295.78 and Select is $1.99 lower at $290.77.  The Choice/Select spread is $5.01. 

At the Kingsville Livestock Auction in Missouri, steers and heifers were steady to $8 higher, except for heifer calves weighing 400 to 550 pounds. 

…