Cattle Pull off Midday Highs to Close Mixed

Austin Schroeder Barchart Tue Aug 19, 5:15PM CDT
Two cows on green pasture by Photo Mix via Pixabay

Live cattle futures rounded out the Tuesday session with contracts down 40 to 17 cents higher. Cash trade has been quiet and mostly compiling showlists on Monday. Last week was mostly steady, with light dressed trade at $384-386 in the North and live action at $243-245. Southern sales were picked up at $235-237. Feeder cattle futures held on to some of the gains, with contracts up $1.50 to $2.05 on Tuesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was back up $2.81 to $344.98 on August 18. 

USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher on Tuesday afternoon, with the Chc/Sel spread widening to $27.44. Retailers continue to stock up ahead of the Labor Day run. Choice boxes were up $2.96 at $407.20, while Select was $2.62 higher to $379.76. USDA estimated cattle slaughter for Tuesday at 116,000 head, taking the weekly total to 216,000 head. That was down 1,000 head from last week and 14,056 head lower vs. the same week in 2024.

Aug 25 Live Cattle  closed at $236.325, down $0.400,

Oct 25 Live Cattle  closed at $231.350, up $0.175,

Dec 25 Live Cattle  closed at $233.250, down $0.025,

Aug 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $350.550, up $1.650,

Sep 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $352.425, up $1.500,

Oct 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $352.300, up $2.050,


On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.