Cattle futures continued lower Friday but closed off session lows. Pressure included lower negotiated cash fed cattle prices for the week and response to Tyson’s Thursday announcement that the company was ending operation of its beef packing facility in Joslin, Ill., its case ready facility in Eagle Mountain, Utah and seeking a buyer for its packing facility in Pasco, Wash.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $1.24 lower. Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $3.11 lower. Week to week on Friday, Live Cattle futures were an average of $4.96 lower, and Feeder Cattle futures were down an average of $8.61.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was limited on moderate demand in the North through Friday afternoon. FOB live prices for the week were $7 lower in Nebraska at mostly $228/cwt. and $5-$7 lower in the western Corn belt at $228-$230. Dressed delivered prices were $5-$8 lower in Nebraska at $362-$365 and $2-$8 lower in the western Corn Belt at $362-$368.
Trade was limited on light demand in Kansas with no established trade for the week. FOB live prices there the previous week were $235.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was 60¢ lower Friday afternoon at $375.30/cwt. Select was $2.00 higher at $351.24. Week to week on Friday, Choice was $10.94 higher and Select was $1.13 lower.
Estimated total cattle slaughter last week of 517,000 head was 8,000 head more than the previous week but 27,000 head fewer than the same week last year. Estimated year-to-date total cattle slaughter of 16.9 million head was 1.5 million head fewer (-8%) than the same time a year earlier. Estimated year-to-date beef production of 15.1 billion pounds was 874.7 million pounds less (-5.5%).
Grain and Soybean futures roared back Friday, led by wheat.
Kansas City HRW Wheat closed 22¢ to 33¢ higher through Sep ’27 and then 15¢ to 19¢ higher with added risk premium for export disruptions in the Black Sea.
Soybean futures closed 5¢ to 11¢ higher through Aug ’27.
Corn futures closed 9¢ to 11¢ higher through Jly ’27 and then mostly 5¢ to 6¢ higher, supported by tighter ending stocks. Week to week on Friday, they were an average of 18’4¢ higher through the front six contracts, supported by the recent World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates
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Major U.S. financial indices closed lower Friday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 107 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 13 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 73 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed 67¢ to $1.15 higher through the front six contracts.
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Last week’s monthly Consumer Price Index for July — up 3.4% over the last 12 months — underscored the continued inflation pressure facing U.S. consumers.
“Grocery store food prices were up 3.0% with meat department prices up 5.4%,” say analysts with the Livestock Marketing Information Center (LMIC) in the Aug. 14 Livestock Monitor. “Food purchased for away-from-home consumption was up 3.4%. Grocery store beef prices spearheaded July grocery store price trends. Overall beef prices were up 9.4% from July 2025. Fresh ground beef prices were up 9.0%, and steak prices were up 9.6%. Beef roasts, which are normally out of their peak demand season, had posted prices that were up 13.5% from the prior July.”
For comparison, LMIC analysts point out July fresh chicken prices in the grocery store were 2.5% less year over, while pork prices were basically the same.
“Prospects for grocery store meat prices could support a topping out of beef prices in the second half of the year,” LMIC analysts say. “At the wholesale level, lean beef trim prices have held steady instead of rising since the second half of the spring. Last year, prices for lean beef trim were moving significantly higher during these months. Fifty-percent lean beef trimmings prices have been decisively lower in the last three months, a sharp contrast to a year ago. Strip loin and round prices at the wholesale level have also been in a downtrend in recent months.”