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Cattle futures consolidated recent gains on Thursday in front of the Cattle on Feed report. With Friday a holiday, the Cattle on Feed report was to be released early and cattle futures worked lower into the middle part of Tuesday’s breakout candle while Feeders made a new high and then pulled back into the upper end of its Tuesday break out candle. Cash had been quiet all week as the packers were willing to wait for the on-feed report and take their chances for a bearish report to pry producers for a lower cash trade. Futures responded with a breakdown from its recent rally to assist the packer sentiment. This took cattle below its 50-DMA now at 246.175 on the continuous chart as cattle made its low at 245.775. It recovered into the close to settle at 246.625, just above the 50-DMA. Cattle had opened lower and made an early low then rallied to its high at 248.875, which is just above the key level at 248.30. With a 3-day weekend and the CoF report traders lightened positions, wary of a potential weaker cash trade. Cash trade has been non-existent all week with some light trades on a dressed basis and nothing to show on the mandatory reports for live trades as the packer remained quiet during the week. Meanwhile, Feeders opened lower and made its low 365.20, testing support at 365.675 and then surged to a new high for the week and recent up move at 369.025. This fell short of resistance at 369.375 and price worked lower to settle in the lower part of its range at 366.60. The Feeder Index has been choppy as sales have been lower with variances between the North and South that finally put the index back near its recent high after an up and down week. It looks like the packer waiting game worked against them as the CoF report was neutral to bullish as placements were below expectations and trade took place at 256.00 on the mandatory report and there are reports that price traded as high as 260.00 late on Friday. We’ll see if this makes it on the final Friday report on Monday morning. With August Feeder Cattle at a new high for the move and between support and resistance, it will take a move above resistance or below support for traders to get price to the next levels or we could continue to consolidate within the 369.375 – 365.675 band. If price breaks through resistance, it could test resistance at 375.075. If price fails at support, we could see a pullback towards support at 363.00. Support then comes in at 358.875. August Live Cattle settled just below the key level at 246.975. If price fails to rally past here, we could retest support at the 50-DMA. Support then comes in at 245.125. If cattle can overcome the 246.975 key level it could retest resistance at 248.30 and then move towards resistance at 249.95. The CoF highlights report are below.
The Feeder Cattle Index released Friday increased and is at 368.01 as of 06/17/2026 settlement.
Boxed beef cutouts were mixed as choice cutouts increased 0.45 to 394.37 and select decreased 2.67 to 372.08. The choice/ select spread widened and is at 22.29 and the load count was 80.
Friday’s estimated slaughter is 95,000, which is even with last week and below last year’s 108,389. Saturday slaughter is expected to be 5,000, which is below last week’s 8,000 and above last year’s 848. The estimated slaughter for the week (so far) is 526,000, which is above last week’s 524,000 and below last year’s 558,476.
The USDA report LM_Ct131 states: So far for Friday, negotiated cash trade has been limited on moderate demand in Nebraska. The last established market test in Nebraska was last week with live purchases from 255.00-258.00 and dressed purchases at mostly 405.00. Negotiated cash trade has been mostly inactive on light demand in all other major feeding regions. The last established market test in the Texas Panhandle was last week with live purchases from 255.00-256.00. The last established market test in Kansas was last week with live purchases at mostly 256.00. The last established market test in the Western Cornbelt was last week with live purchases from 255.00-258.00 and dressed purchases from 403.00 -405.00 on a light test.
The USDA is indicating cash trades for live cattle at 256.00 and from 405.00 – 410.00 on a dressed basis (so far) for the week.
United States Cattle on Feed Up 2 Percent
Cattle and calves on feed for the slaughter market in the United States for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 or more head totaled 11.7 million head on June 1, 2026. The inventory was 2 percent above June 1, 2025.
Placements in feedlots during May totaled 1.70 million head, 10 percent below 2025. Net placements were 1.65 million head. During May, placements of cattle and calves weighing less than 600 pounds were 320,000 head, 600-699 pounds were 240,000 head, 700-799 pounds were 400,000 head, 800-899 pounds were 444,000 head, 900-999 pounds were 225,000 head, and 1,000 pounds and greater were 75,000 head.
Marketings of fed cattle during May totaled 1.55 million head, 12 percent below 2025. Marketings were the second lowest for May since the series began in 1996.
Other disappearance totaled 55,000 head during May, 11 percent below 2025.
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Ben DiCostanzo
Senior Livestock Analyst
Walsh Trading, Inc.
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