U.S. livestock: Live cattle steady to lower; feeders, hogs climb

Reading Time: < 1 minute

Published: January 14, 2025

,

(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Live cattle futures were steady to lower on Tuesday, backing away from record highs as speculative profit-taking weighed on prices.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange most active February live cattle closed at 197.400 cents per pound, unchanged from yesterday. The second-most active April futures closed at 198.150, down 0.050 cents from Monday.

Feeder cattle remained pointed higher, with the Commitments of Traders report released after Monday’s close showing fund traders holding a record-large long position in the market.

Most active March feeder cattle settled at 268.200, up 0.300 cents from yesterday. January feeder cattle futures closed at 274.100, up 2.250 cents a pound.

Choice boxed beef was priced at $332.98 per cwt this afternoon, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported. This was down $0.37 per cwt from yesterday. Select beef was priced at $318.71, up $1.14 per cwt.

Lean hog futures continued their climb for the fourth day. Most active February lean hogs closed at 83.625 cents a pound, up 0.450 from yesterday. April lean hogs settled at 90.500, up 1.200 cents per pound.

—Prices in USD unless otherwise noted

About the author

Geralyn Wichers

Geralyn Wichers

Digital editor, news and national affairs

Geralyn graduated from Red River College's Creative Communications program in 2019 and launched directly into agricultural journalism with the Manitoba Co-operator. Her enterprising, colourful reporting has earned awards such as the Dick Beamish award for current affairs feature writing and a Canadian Online Publishing Award, and in 2023 she represented Canada in the International Federation of Agricultural Journalists' Alltech Young Leaders Program. Geralyn is a co-host of the Armchair Anabaptist podcast, cat lover, and thrift store connoisseur.

explore

Stories from our other publications