Cattle Fall on Thursday as Beef Slips Back

Live cattle futures reverted lower on Thursday, as contracts were down $2.95 to $4.55 across the board. Cash trade picked up on Thursday, with most trade at $235 live and $370 dressed (North) across the country. The Thursday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 734 head offered, with bids at $233-234 live. Feeder cattle futures faced losses of $5.12 to $7.57 across the board on Thursday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $4.28 on August 5 to $352.93.

Export Sales data from USDA showed beef sales for 2026 at 19,845 MT for the week ending on 7/30. That was a 6-week high. South Korea was the buyer of 9,300 MT, with 6,600 MT sold to Japan. Shipments were tallied at 12,461 MT, which back up from last week. The top destination was South Korea at 3,800 MT, with 2,800 MT headed to Japan. 

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Thursday afternoon report. Choice boxes were down $4.11 at $363.86, with Select $1.72 higher to $349.78. The Chc/Sel spread narrowed to $14.08. USDA’s Federally inspected cattle slaughter for Thursday was estimated at 107,000 head, with the week to date total at 413,000 head. That is up 6,000 head from the previous week but 36,284 head below the same week last year.

Aug 26 Live Cattle  closed at $231.225, down $2.950,

Oct 26 Live Cattle  closed at $224.925, down $4.550,

Dec 26 Live Cattle  closed at $224.375, down $4.300,

Aug 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $348.050, down $5.275,

Sep 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $341.575, down $6.800,

Oct 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $331.950, down $7.475,