Cattle Fall Back on Friday

Cow in pen at fair by sandsun via iStock

Austin Schroeder

Sat, February 21, 2026 at 7:21 AM GMT+9 2 min read

Live cattle futures were down 90 cent to $1.50 across the front months on Friday, as April was still $1.37 higher this week. Cash trade was limited this week, with some $245-247 in the North and some southern trade up to $249. Feeder cattle futures were under pressure on Friday, with contracts down $2.25 to $2.60 at the close, as March was still $1.87 higher this week. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was up 44 cents to $377.37 on February 19.

Export Sales data from USDA showed a total of 14,694 MT of beef sold in the week of February 12, a 5-week low. South Korea was the buyer of 5,500 MT, with 2,600 MT sold to Japan.  Shipments were 13,362 MT in that week. The largest destination was South Korea at 4,400 MT, with 3,900 MT to Japan.

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Commitment of Traders data showed a total of 8,083 contracts added to the net long position in live cattle futures and option, to 116,717 contracts. In feeder cattle futures and options, managed money added another 644 contracts to their net long to 16,806 contracts.

Cattle on Feed data from this afternoon showed 1.736 million head of feeders placed in January, down 4.72% from a year ago and below placements. Marketings in January were own 13% at 1.626 million head. February 1 on feed totaled 11.505 million head, a drop of 1.8% from last year and below the 1.6% estimated decline.

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Friday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread widening to $5.96. Choice boxes were back up $1.53 to $366.70, while Select was 95 cents higher to $360.74. USDA estimated this week’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 516,000 head. That is 25,000 head above last week and 48,737 head below the same week last year.

Feb 26 Live Cattle  closed at $246.575, down $0.925,

Apr 26 Live Cattle  closed at $242.000, down $1.425,

Jun 26 Live Cattle  closed at $237.525, down $1.350,

Mar 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $368.025, down $2.250,

Apr 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $365.050, down $2.600,

May 26 Feeder Cattle  closed at $361.000, down $2.575,

_ On the date of publication, Austin Schroeder did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.com _

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