Live cattle futures posted Thursday losses of 82 cents to $2.22 at the close, with August holding for gains of $5.45 this week. The Thursday Fed Cattle online auction showed no sales on the 1,466 head offered, with bids at $254. Cash trade has been slow this week, with bids reported at $353-354 on Thursday. Feeder cattle futures were down 30 cents to $1.10 on Friday, as August was still $9.17 higher this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up $3.04 on June 17 to $367.06. The market will be closed on Friday in observance of Juneteenth.
USDA Cattle on Feed data from this afternoon showed May placements down 9.7% from a year ago and below estimate calling for a 5.5% drop from a year ago. Marketings were down 11.77% compared to 2025 at 1.551 million head. June 1 on feed inventory was 2.09% larger than the same period last year at 11.682 million head.
