Cattle Falls Lower on Friday

Live cattle futures were $1.50 to $2.40 lower on Friday, with June down $1.05 this week. Cash trade picked up on Friday to $255-258 across the country. Feeder cattle futures were down $4.60 to $5.02 in most contracts on Friday with August slipping $1.42 this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $3.77 on May 28 to $373.40. 

Commitment of Traders data from CFTC on Friday showed live cattle spec traders at a net long of 120,569 contracts of futures and options as of Tuesday, trimming 9,544 contracts over the course of the week. Managed money in feeder cattle were busy exiting longs, dropping the net long by 5,785 contracts to the smallest net long since the fall of 2024 at 10,595 contracts.

The weekly Export Sales report showed 13,211 MT of beef sold for 2026 in the week ending on May 21. That was a 4 week high. South Korea was the top buyer of 3,900 MT, with 2,800 MT to Japan. Shipments were pegged at 14,985 MT, which was a 12-week high. Of that total, 5,200 Mt was headed to South Korea, with 3,300 MT headed to Japan. 

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were lower in the Friday PM report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $8.29. Choice boxes were down 85 cents to $391.47, while Select was $2.40 lower at $383.18. USDA estimated federally inspected cattle slaughter for this week at 448,000 head, which was down 39,605 head from the same post-Memorial Day week last year. 

Jun 26 Live Cattle  closed at $248.250, down $1.500,

Aug 26 Live Cattle  closed at $239.050, down $1.950,

Oct 26 Live Cattle  closed at $230.425, down $2.150,

Aug 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $348.425, down $4.600,

Sep 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $345.350, down $4.900,

Oct 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $342.025, down $4.975,