Friday markets
“Friday came and went and thankfully traders continued to support the live cattle contracts although no cash cattle trade has developed at the time of this writing,” wrote ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, in her closing comments.
Live cattle futures were mostly higher, up 12 cents on the October contract to $229.87 and unchanged on the December contract to $231.12.
USDA released its latest Cattle on Feed report this afternoon. As of Oct. 1, total cattle and calves on feed was 11.4 million head, slightly below last year’s levels. Placements during September totaled 1.78 million head, 12% below 2025. Marketings were 1.52 million head, 7% below last year. Other disappearance totaled 49,000 head, 4% lower than 2025.
“Thankfully the day’s Cattle on Feed report was extremely bullish, but as I mentioned, no trade has developed yet in the cash sector,” Stewart said. “It’s fully assumed that prices will trade at least steady this week, if not higher, but feedlot managers and packers have again gone toe-to-toe and so far no one has budged.”
Cash trade for the day totaled less than 600 head. Live steers sold for $226, and dressed steers sold for $355. Total cash trade for the week through the afternoon was about 2,000 head.
“It’s likely that we won’t know until Monday’s official USDA report comes out what happened over the week,” Stewart said. “But hats off to the feedlot managers that continue to hold the line, and push for stronger cash prices.”
Slaughter through the day is estimated at 96,000 head, compared to 102,000 head a week earlier. With tomorrow’s slaughter estimated at 20,000 head, total slaughter for the week is projected at 546,000 head, compared to 553,000 head a week ago.
Boxed beef prices were mixed on 124 loads. The Choice cutout lost $3.68 to close at $365.79, and the Select cutout gained $2.28 to close at $352.69.
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle futures were higher, up $2.22 on the October contract to $348.32 and up $1.20 on the November contract to $348.12.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index gained 79 cents to close at $343.57.
Corn futures were lower, down 4 cents on the December contract to $4.56 and down 4 cents on the March contract to $4.70. — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
