Cattle Futures Climb Amid Corn Market Slowdown

Cattle markets showed some resilience last week after a couple of noisy weeks, with futures trading within a range from Monday to Wednesday. However, things picked up on Thursday when both live and feeder cattle broke through their 10-day moving averages.

Live cattle for the front month of October settled at $212.950, up $1.225 on the week, while the December through April contracts were up $0.700 to $1.050. Feeder cattle, which benefited from a corn market slowdown, finished the week at $324.825, up $3.925 week over week.

Despite the positive movement in prices, fundamentals remained steady. Packers chose not to run as hard this week, slaughtering only 526,000 head compared to 542,000 the prior week and 493,000 in 2025. This kept both cash and cutout relatively stable.

The North saw cash trade develop early last week, coming in at mostly $218 to $219 per hundredweight live, which is about steady with the prior week. The South took longer to develop, with feeders passing on bids that started out at $218 per hundredweight, eventually settling at $222 to $223 per hundredweight.