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Live cattle futures increased by $1.20 to $1.70 on Friday, with October contracts rising a total of $3.60 for the week. Cash trade was reported at $240 in the South and $237-238 in the North. The Friday Fed Cattle Exchange auction listed bids between $239-241 on 183 head out of 1,250 offered. Feeder cattle futures also saw gains, with September contracts up $8.75 for the week.
As per the USDA’s August report, cattle placements fell by 9.92% to 1.78 million head, and marketings decreased by 13.63% to 1.571 million head. The number of cattle on feed as of September 1 was reported at 11.08 million head, a 1.05% decline from the previous year. Additionally, USDA estimated weekly cattle slaughter at 552,000 head, down 13,000 from the prior week and 62,409 lower than the same week in 2024.
The CFTC data indicated that managed money decreased their net long positions in live cattle futures by 3,256 contracts, totaling 127,747 contracts. However, net long positions in feeder cattle increased by 255 contracts, reaching 25,891 contracts.
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