
Live cattle futures are trading with $2.50 to $4.50 gains across most contracts at midday. Cash trade picked up on Thursday with $230 trade in NE and KS reported. Feeder cattle futures are up $5 to $5.70 on Thursday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back down 47 cents to $344.03 on December 9.
Export sales data showed just 3,863 MT of beef sold for 2025 in the week of 11/13, with 2,922 MT for 2026 delivery. Combines sales of 6.785 were the lowest since August. Shipments were a 15-week high at 13,907 MT.