Cattle Fall into the Holiday Weekend, with Wholesale Beef Weakness

Live cattle futures closed with losses of $2.05 to $2.60 on Thursday, with August down $6.60 this week. Cash sales were picked up at $403 dressed in the north this week, with live trade at $255-256. Southern trade was $255, with both regions seeing weakness from the week prior. Feeder cattle futures were $$2.72 to $3.80 lower across the board on Thursday, with August down $9.22 on the week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down $5.74 on July 1 to $371.25. The market will observe the July 4^th Independence Day Holiday on Friday, for a 3-day weekend.

Export Sales data from USDA showed beef sales for 2026 at 126,062 MT for the week ending on 6/25, a calendar year high. Shipments were tallied at 128,967 MT, which was a 2026 high. There was 111,164 MT in late reporting for sales and shipments.