U.S. livestock: Cattle fall on unconfirmed screwworm report

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Published: May 27, 2025

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(Photo courtesy Canada Beef Inc.)

Chicago cattle futures fell on Tuesday as an unconfirmed report of a case of  New World screwworm led to a sell-off.

A Missouri radio station reported a case of the parasite but later scrubbed the story from its website. RFD-TV on its website posted a statement from the USDA calling the report “not true.”

Markets rebounded as the day went on.

Most active August live cattle settled down 1.150 cents at 209.300 cents per pound. They had bottomed out at 206.375 cents earlier in the day. June live cattle closed at 215.125 cents a pound, down 0.675 cents.

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 Photo: Canada Beef

U.S. livestock: Feeder cattle extend rally to new highs

Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures extended gains to record highs on Wednesday while live cattle futures set a contract high before pulling back.

Most active August feeder cattle contracts settled at 298.150 cents a pound, a loss of 2.225 cents. Earlier in the day it hit a low of 293.050 cents.

Choice boxed beef inched up $0.30 to settle at $361.85 per cwt, the USDA said in its afternoon report. Select beef lost $0.49 to close at $350.83 per cwt.

Hog futures, meanwhile, saw modest gains. Most active July lean hogs settled at 102.150 cents a pound, up 0.600 cents. August lean hogs gained 0.900 cents to close at 102.175 cents a pound.

The USDA put pork carcass cutout value at $103.73 per cwt, up $2.27.

—Prices reported in U.S. dollars

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.

 

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