Live cattle futures posted gains of with 67 cents to $1.00 to close out the day, as August was up $2.92 this week. Cash activity settled in at $230-231 in the South this week, with $240-242 in the North. The Friday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction from Central Stockyards showed $237.50 sales on 325 head out of KS, with $233 TX BidTheGrid™ sales on 120 head. Feeder cattle futures closed the Friday session with contracts up $2.47 to $2.65, as August was $7.37 higher on the week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $2.65 to $328.83 on July 24.
Cattle on Feed data showed June placements down 7.86% from last year at 1.411 million head and well below estimates. Marketings were 1.707 million head and 4.42% below June 2024. July 1 on feed was tallied at 11.195 million head, down 0.96% from a year ago. The bi-annual July Cattle Inventory report was released after a hiatus last year, with July 1 beef cow inventory down 1.2% from 2023 at 28.65 million head. Beef replacement heifers were 5.1% below 2023 at 3.7 million head.
