Today’s Livestock Market Update

The livestock contracts ended the day lower as traders never saw the fundamental support they yearned to see.

LIVE CATTLE:

All in all it was a disappointing day for the live cattle complex — except for this afternoon’s Cattle on Feed report which was found to be mostly bullish, as anticipated. Click here to read DTN’s full Cattle on Feed comments: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

But with the cash market trading steady to $1.00 lower this week, traders simply didn’t find enough support in Friday’s market — or really even in this week’s market — to hold the complex from trading lower into the weekend. April live cattle closed $0.35 lower at $249.95, June live cattle closed $0.27 lower at $247.35 and August live cattle closed $0.25 lower at $242.82. Throughout the week, Southern live cattle traded at mostly $248, which is steady with last week’s weighted average. Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $388, which is steady to $1.00 lower than the previous week’s weighted average. Friday’s slaughter is estimated at 77,000 head — 6,000 head less than a week ago and 13,000 head less than a year ago. Saturday’s slaughter is projected to be around 8,000 head. The week’s total slaughter is estimated at 514,000 head — 2,000 head more than a week ago and 63,000 head less than a year ago.

Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.51 ($381.06) and select down $1.88 ($376.60) with a movement of 92 loads (75.40 loads of choice, 4.72 loads of select, 6.06 loads of trim and 5.67 loads of ground beef).

MONDAY’S CATTLE CALL:

Steady to somewhat lower. With packers able to get more cattle committed to them and for mostly steady prices, feedlot managers are going to have a tougher time getting the market to trade higher when packers are gaining leverage.

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex also closed lower Friday as traders simply weren’t willing to advance the market while the live cattle contracts sank lower and the fed cash cattle market held steady. April feeder cattle closed $1.75 lower at $371.32, May feeders closed $1.82 lower at $365.27 and August feeders closed $2.85 lower at $365.67. The Oklahoma Weekly Cattle Auction Summary shared that compared to last week feeder steers traded steady to $5.00 higher and feeder heifers traded $2.00 to $4.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves traded unevenly steady. Slaughter cows sold $1.00 to $5.00 lower, but lean cows traded $10.00 higher. Slaughter bulls traded steady. The feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 75%. The CME Feeder Cattle Index 4/16/2026: down $1.42, $377.67.