Live cattle futures were down $2.35 to $2.65 across the front months to close out Wednesday. Cash trade has yet to get kicked off this week. A few Southern sales were being reported at $239 on Wednesday. This morning’s Fed Cattle Exchange online auction from Central Stockyards saw no sales on the 1,250 head offered, with bids at $230-235. Feeder cattle futures were down $3.30 to $5.30 to close out Wednesday. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 27 cents at $361.36 on September 16.
USDA will release their Cattle on Feed report on Friday, with August Placements seen down 9% and markets expected to be 12.8% below last year. September 1 on feed data is estimated down 0.9% vs. 2024.
