Cattle Pull Off Highs into Wednesday’s Close

Austin Schroeder Barchart Wed Aug 27, 5:20PM CDT
Brown and white cow with ear tag by Clara Bastian via iStock

Live cattle futures were weaker late in the day, but still closed with 75 cent to $1.32 gains. There were 20 deliveries tendered on Wednesday. Cash trade has been quiet so far this week, with a few bids of $245 in the north reported and light sales of $240-242 in KS. This morning’s Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed a total of 940 head listed with no bids reported. Feeder cattle futures were well off the intraday highs at Wednesday’s close, still up 35 cents to $2.22 at the final bell. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up another $1.51 to $360.68 on August 26. 

USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were weaker in the Wednesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $24.13. Choice boxes were down $1.33 at $411.84, while Select was $3.05 lower to $387.71. USDA estimated cattle slaughter for Wednesday was 119,000 head, with the weekly total at 344,000 head. That was up 10,000 head from last week but 14,906 head lower vs. the same week in 2024.

Aug 25 Live Cattle  closed at $243.250, up $0.750,

Oct 25 Live Cattle  closed at $239.525, up $1.325,

Dec 25 Live Cattle  closed at $240.900, up $0.975,

Aug 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $365.450, up $2.225,

Sep 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $365.400, up $0.350,

Oct 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $364.200, up $0.425,


On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.