Cattle futures continued lower Tuesday with month-end and quarter-end positioning.
Toward the close, Live Cattle futures were an average of 96¢ lower, except for 80¢ higher in spot Jun and 2¢ higher at the back. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of $3.29 lower.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was inactive on light demand through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were $258/cwt. in the Southern Plains, mostly $260 in the western Corn Belt and $258-$260 in Nebraska. Dressed delivered prices were $408.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.72 higher Tuesday afternoon at $393.16/cwt. Select was $2.50 lower at $371.68.
Despite some mixed signals, Grain and Soybean futures were higher Tuesday with support from USDA’s Acreage and Grain Stocks reports (see below).
Toward the close, and through near Mar contracts, Corn futures were mostly 4¢ to 8¢ higher with lower stocks than expected. Soybean futures were 4¢ to 8¢ higher. Kansas City HRW Wheat futures were 8¢ to 9¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed higher Monday, with follow-through optimism tied to the ceasefire between the U.S. and Iran, as well as a rebound in chip stocks.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 136 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 58 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 393 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) were 26¢ to 60¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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USDA’s Acreage and quarterly Grain Stocks reports raised some eyebrows Tuesday.
Corn planted area for all purposes was estimated at 95.3 million acres, down 3% from last year but even with March estimates. This represents the fourth highest planted acreage in the United States since 1944. Corn stocks in all positions on June 1 totaled 5.29 billion bushels, up 14% year over year but less than anticipated ahead of the report.
Of the total stocks, 2.96 billion bushels are stored on farms, up 16% from a year earlier.
Soybean planted area for 2026 was estimated at 85.4 million acres, up 5% from last year and 700,000 acres more than March estimates. Soybeans stored in all positions on June 1 totaled 1.06 billion bushels, up 5% year over year. On-farm stocks totaled 367 million bushels, down 11% from a year earlier.
All wheat planted area for 2026 was estimated at 42.7 million acres, down 6% from 2025 and 1.1 million acres less than March estimates. The 2026 winter wheat planted area of 31.5 million acres was 5% less than last year and down 3% from the previous estimate. Old crop all wheat stored in all positions on June 1 totaled 920 million bushels, up 8% from a year ago. On-farm stocks were estimated at 177 million bushels, down 4% from last year.
All harvested hay area of 49.8 million acres was 230,000 acres more (0.5%) than the previous year.