Cattle Bulls Keep Their Head Above Water on Thursday

Austin Schroeder Barchart Thu Jun 26, 4:49PM CDT
Single cow with number tag in ear by Mabel Amber, who will one day via Pixabay

Live cattle futures posted steady to 25 cent higher trade on Thursday, even as cash weakness started to creep in. Cash trade saw some light action this afternoon at $230 in the North and $223-225 in the South. No sales were reported in the Thursday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction from Central Stockyards, with 1,652 head listed. Bids were $221-224. Feeder cattle futures saw 67 cent to $1 higher trade across most contracts on Thursday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 79 cents @ $311.39.

Weekly Export Sales data showed 14,075 MT of beef sold in the week of June 19 for 2025 shipment. Japan was the top buyer of 6,800 MT, with 3,000 MT sold to South Korea. Exports were tallied at a 3-week low of 12,597 MT. If that total, 3,800 MT was headed to South Korea, with 3,400 MT sold to Japan.

National Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher on Thursday afternoon, with the Chc/Sel spread narrowing to $15.31. Choice boxes were up 11 cents to $395.05, while Select was quoted $3.45 higher at $379.74/cwt. USDA’s Federally inspected cattle slaughter for Wednesday was estimated at 105,000 head, with the week to date total at 452,000 head. That is 1,000 head above the week prior but 22,819 head below the same week last year.

Jun 25 Live Cattle  closed at $221.700, up $0.100,

Aug 25 Live Cattle  closed at $209.200, up $0.225,

Oct 25 Live Cattle  closed at $206.350, unch,

Aug 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $303.300, up $1.000,

Sep 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $303.375, up $0.775,

Oct 25 Feeder Cattle  closed at $301.425, up $0.675,


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.