Live cattle futures were in rally mode on Tuesday, closing with contracts up $3.60 to $5.95 higher. New buying interest was noted, up 4,735 contracts. Cash trade was mostly $255-258 across the country last week. It has yet to take place so far this week. Feeder cattle futures rallied $5.32 to $6.87 across most contracts on Tuesday. Open interest was up 283 contracts. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $1.33 on June 12 to $364.00.
USDA will release Cattle on Feed data on Thursday, as traders are looking for May placements to be down 5.5% from a year ago. Marketings are seen down 10.6% compared to 2025. June 1 on feed is expected to total 2.5% larger than the same period last year.
Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Tuesday PM report, with the Chc/Sel spread at $22.73. Choice boxes were up $4.53 to $399581, while Select was 44 cents higher at $376.85. USDA’s federally inspected cattle slaughter for Tuesday was estimated at 109,000 head, with the weekly total at 208,000 head. That is down 3,000 from the previous week and 10,822 head below the same week last year.
Jun 26 Live Cattle closed at $255.300, up $4.675,
Aug 26 Live Cattle closed at $249.200, up $5.950,
Oct 26 Live Cattle closed at $242.000, up $5.200,
Aug 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $366.875, up $5.325,
Sep 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $365.275, up $5.750,
Oct 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $362.425, up $6.325,
