Live cattle futures are getting a bounce, with $1.40 to $1.80 gains at midday. Cash trade saw a few $230-232 sales on Wednesday, though there has not been enough to establish a trend. The Thursday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,530 head, with bids at $230. Feeder cattle futures are up $2.90 to $3.75 on Thursday. CME Feeder Cattle Index was down another $3.10 on July 20 to $353.12.
Export Sales data from USDA showed beef sales for 2026 at 9,377 MT for the week ending on 7/16. That was back up from last week’s the 4th lowest total for the calendar year. Shipments were tallied at 12,544 MT, which back up from last week’s calendar year low.