Feeder Cattle Jan '26 (GFF26)
| Barchart Symbol | GF |
| Exchange Symbol | GF |
| Contract | Feeder Cattle |
| Exchange | CME |
| Tick Size | 0.00025 per pound ($12.50 per contract) |
| Margin/Maintenance | $6,270/5,700 |
| Daily Limit | 10.75 cents per pound ($4,300 per contract) Expanded limit 16 cents |
| Contract Size | 50,000 pounds |
| Months | Jan, Mar, Apr, May, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov (F, H, J, K, Q, U, V, X) |
| Trading Hours | 8:30a.m. - 1:05p.m. (Settles 1:00p.m.) CST |
| Value of One Futures Unit | $500 |
| Value of One Options Unit | $500 |
| Last Trading Day | The last Thursday of the contract month |
Description
The beef cycle begins with the cow-calf operation, which breeds the new calves. Most ranchers breed their herds of cows in summer, thus producing a new crop of calves in spring (the gestation period is about nine months). This allows calves to be born during the milder weather of spring and provides them with ample forage through the summer and early autumn. The calves are weaned from the mother after 6-8 months, and most are then moved into the "stocker" operation. The calves usually spend 6-10 months in the stocker operation, growing to near full size by foraging on summer grass or winter wheat. When the cattle reach 600-800 pounds, they are typically sent to a feedlot and become "feeder cattle." In the feedlot, the cattle are fed with a special food mix to encourage rapid weight gain. The mix includes grain (corn, milo, or wheat), a protein supplement (soybean, cottonseed, or linseed meal), and roughage (alfalfa, silage, prairie hay, or an agricultural by-product such as sugar beet pulp). The animal is considered "finished" when it reaches full weight and is ready for slaughter, typically at around 1,200 pounds, producing a dressed carcass of about 745 pounds. After reaching full weight, the cattle are sold to a meatpacking plant for slaughter.
Futures and options on live cattle and feeder cattle are traded at the CME Group. Both the live and feeder cattle futures contracts trade in terms of cents per pound.
Prices - CME live cattle futures (Barchart.com symbol LE) began 2025 on a firm footing, as the shrinking US cattle herd kept prices near record highs. The USDA reported that the US cattle herd on January 1, 2025, dropped to 86.2 million head, the smallest herd since 1951. Over the past five years, American cattle ranchers have been forced to cull their herds because of persistent drought, surging feed costs, and elevated interest rates. Also, strong beef demand prompted ranchers to keep selling animals for slaughter rather than retaining them to expand their herds. Near-record-high beef prices undercut demand and boosted inventories, as US beef in cold storage rose to a 2-year high in January at 455 million pounds. Cattle prices posted their low for 2025 in March at $189.50 a pound. Cattle prices then soared into Q3 of 2025, reaching a record high of $246.78 per pound in August. Cattle supplies remained tight as US cattle on feed fell to an 8-year low in July. Prices dipped in November after President Trump removed tariffs on beef from Brazil and quadrupled the tariff-free quota on Argentine beef. Also, in October, the USDA unveiled a plan to make it easier for ranchers to graze cattle on federally owned land. Ranchers began expanding their herds as they curbed the number of female cows sent to slaughter, suggesting more were being retained for breeding. Cattle prices finished 2025 up +20.9% yr/yr at $2.3160 per pound.
Supply - The number of world cattle as of January 1, 2026, fell by -1.7% to 903.3 million head. As of January 1, 2026, the number of cattle on farms in India (the world's largest herd) remained unchanged yr/yr at 307.500 million head, and on Brazilian farms (the world's second-largest herd) fell by -4.6% to 178.225 million head. As of January 1, 2025, the number of cattle and calves on US farms fell by
-0.6% yr/yr to 86.662 million head. The USDA forecasts that US commercial beef production in 2026 would fall by -0.3% yr/yr to 25.920 billion pounds.
Demand - The federally-inspected slaughter of cattle in the US, a measure of cattle consumption, fell by -6.4% yr/yr to 29.251 million head in 2025, above the 5-decade low of 28.296 million head in 2015.
Trade - US imports of live cattle in 2025 fell by -51.1% yr/yr to 1.000 million head. US imports of beef in 2026 rose by +3.4% to 5.575 billion pounds. US exports of beef in 2026 fell by -5.6% yr/yr to 2.425 billion pounds.
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