Live cattle futures slipped back 57 cents to $1.22 on the Thursday session. The Thursday morning Fed Cattle Exchange showed no sales on the 2,552 head listed, with a few bids of $230-231.50. Outside of that, there has been some light cash trade at $230 in the North, down $2-5 from last week. Dressed trade was reported at $360. Feeder cattle futures were under pressure on Thursday, with contracts falling $4.65 to $5.20 in the front months. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down $3.08 at $361.63 on October 1.
USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices continued lower on Thursday afternoon, with the Chc/Sel spread narrowing to $19.82. Choice boxes were down $5.25 at $363.22, while Select was $3.49 lower to $343.40. USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter for Thursday was estimated at 113,000 head, with the weekly total at 461,000 head. That was 5,000 head below last week and 30,285 head below the same week in 2024.
