Today’s Livestock Market Update

Heading into Friday’s trade, expect to see more action in the fed cash cattle market as no cattle have traded ye

LIVE CATTLE:

The live cattle complex was able to close mildly higher Thursday afternoon, as traders have hope that when cash cattle do trade this week, prices will indeed be higher. There’s yet to be any trade developed, but there was a major packer who called in to Nebraska offering $365 and that bid was passed on. Otherwise, both bids and asking prices remain elusive at this point. February live cattle closed $0.90 higher at $236.05, April live cattle closed $1.10 higher at $238.42 and June live cattle closed $1.57 higher at $233.90. From a technical standpoint, the market is currently hovering below its resistance threshold and won’t likely challenge that price point until something more substantial develops fundamentally. Thursday’s slaughter is estimated at 117,000 head, steady with a week ago and 4,000 head less than a year ago.

I do want to highlight that this afternoon, Texas Ag Commissioner Sid Miller shared in a statement that eight new cases of New World screwworm have been detected in the state of Tamaulipas, which borders Texas. The press release stated that, “It’s just plain cowboy logic–when you’re seeing this many cases, this fast, it tells you there may be established screwworm fly populations in Tamaulipas,” Commissioner Miller said. “We’re grateful sterile fly deployment has begun but make no mistake: Texas producers need to stay on high alert along our border.” Understanding how NWS affects the market is two-pronged because every time there’s an announcement of another confirmed case in Mexico, the market will likely affect the market bullishly as that likely means that the border will remain closed for some time to Mexican cattle imports. But if there were to be a confirmed case here in the U.S., that would obviously affect the market bearishly.

Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $2.24 ($360.77) and select up $2.06 ($359.71) with a movement of 150 loads (116.78 loads of choice, 8.23 loads of select, 16.68 loads of trim and 8.56 loads of ground beef).

FRIDAY’S CATTLE CALL:

Higher. Packers are short on cattle and can’t afford to be overly short going into the upcoming season, where supplies are going to be thin.

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex only grew stronger and stronger throughout Thursday’s trade as traders remain hopeful of the fundamental support that’s likely to come. Not to mention, there’s a chance that traders caught wind of the new confirmed cases of NWS in Mexico, which could have also helped the contracts scale higher. January feeders closed $3.67 higher at $368.42, March feeders closed $4.85 higher at $364.55 and April feeders closed $4.75 higher at $362.92. At the Clovis Livestock Auction in Clovis, New Mexico, compared to last week and at their mid-session point, steer calves weighing 350 to 600 pounds sold $13.00 to $20.00 higher and feeder steers weighing 600 to 850 pounds were trading $10.00 to $20.00 higher, except those weighing 750 to 800 pounds, which sold $8.00 lower. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 56%. The CME feeder cattle index 1/14/2026: down $0.42, $369.42.