Thursday markets
Cattle markets continued to climb Thursday, with August live cattle futures posting a technically bullish weekly high close and feeder cattle following higher.
Live cattle futures closed higher, with the August contract up $1.60 to $214.05 and the October contract up $1.20 to $210.90.
“At this point, it seems safe to assume that traders feel as if the market has endured enough immediate pressure, but it will be imperative that fundamental support begins to improve early next week if traders are going to keep with their current upward trend,” ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst, wrote in her midday comments. “Unfortunately, it’s unlikely that the fed cash cattle will be able to trade higher as packers continue to build up supply around themselves, and at some point, boxed beef prices will likely break to fit the seasonal norm.”
Cash trade was moderate to wrap up the trading week, with 8,679 head sold. Live steers sold for $218-235, and dressed steers sold between $368-370.
On the formula side, 28,300 head averaging 910 lbs. sold for an average of $361.58.
Today’s slaughter is estimated to be 115,000 head, 10,000 head above a week earlier.
Actual slaughter for the week ending June 21 was 558,476 head. The average steer dressed weight was 937 lbs., 6 lbs. above the prior week.
Boxed beef prices were lower, with the Choice cutout down $5.11 to $389.75 and the Select cutout down $1.87 to $389.75.
USDA’s Weekly Export report showed beef net sales of 11,400 metric tons (mt) for 2025 were down 19% from the previous week and 9% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were South Korea (3,400 mt), Japan (2,800 mt) and Taiwan (1,800 mt).
Feeder cattle
Feeder cattle futures closed moderately higher, with the August contract up 47 cents to $309.50 and the September contract up 50 cents to $309.37.
“It will be especially interesting to see if Superior’s Week in the Rockies sale (which happens all of next week) will be as strong as the Corn Belt Classic was,” Stewart wrote. “From a demand perspective, buyers are still in desperate need of calves, but the concern at the back of cow-calf producers’ minds is that some buyers could elect to see how aggressive an influx of Mexican feeder cattle imports is going to be.”
The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 97 cents to $314.10.
Corn futures closed higher, with the July and September contracts up 2 cents to $4.31 and $4.20, respectively.
Most auction markets were closed due to the July 4th holiday.
Nebraska: Huss Livestock in Kearney sold 1,234 head on Wednesday. An accurate comparison could not be made due to limited sales, but demand was good. A group of steers averaging 611 lbs. sold for $378-383, averaging $379.87.
Oklahoma: OKC West in El Reno sold 2,531 head on Wednesday. Compared to the last auction, feeder steers and steer calves sold unevenly steady in a light test. Steers 850-950 lbs. sold $6-10 higher. Feeder heifers and heifer calves sold $2-7 higher. Benchmark steers averaging 723 lbs. sold for $325-326, averaging $325.70. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
