Live cattle futures are showing 97 cent to $2 gains across the front months at midday. Cash trade has picked up a few at $355-360. The Thursday morning Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,520 head offered, with bids of $223 to 225. Feeder cattle futures are up a quarter to $1.50 so far. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down another $1.19 on August 18 to $342.36.
Export Sales data from USDA showed beef sales for 2026 at 9,299 MT for the week ending on 8/13. That was a 5-week low. Shipments were tallied at 12,646 MT, which was a 6-week high.