Live cattle futures are trading with contracts down a quarter to $1 at midday. Cash trade was picked up last week at $248 across the country. Feeder cattle futures are $1.82 to $3.10 lower across the front months on Monday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down $1.42 to $377.67 on April 16. The OKC feeder cattle auction had an estimated 6,000 head for sale with sales yet to be reported.
USDA’s Cattle on Feed report from Friday showed March Placements down 7.67% from a year ago at 1.709 million head, coming close to estimates. Marketings were 5.5% lower vs. last year at 1.62 million head. April 1 on feed came in close to estimates at 11.576 million head, down 0.53% from a year ago. The inventory for heifers on feed was at 4.32 million head, down 1.37% vs April 1, 2025, the ratio at 37.32%.
