U.S. livestock: Cattle futures continue to surge as U.S. cattle on feed inventory declines 

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Published: January 24, 2025

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(Geralyn Wichers photo)

Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle and hog futures rose across the board on Friday with cattle continuing a run of record-setting prices.

Most active April live cattle settled at 203.025 cents per pound, up 2.300 cents. February live cattle futures closed at 204.775 cents per pound, up 3.675 cents.

Most active March feeder cattle futures rose 2.500 cents to settle at 276.575 cents per pound. April feeder cattle closed at 275.450 cents per pound, a gain of 3.000 cents.

The USDA reported choice boxed beef at $372.92 per cwt this afternoon, down $3.04 from Thursday. Select boxed beef was priced at $312.29 per cwt, down $0.92.

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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.

Cattle and calves on feed in the U.S. were down one per cent from one year ago, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report released today. Cattle on feed for the U.S. slaughter market for feedlots with capacity of 1,000 head or more totaled 11.8 million head on January 1.

The inventory included 7.25 million steers and steer calves, which is up one per cent from the previous year. Heifer and heifer calves numbered 4.58 million head, down three per cent from 2024.

Lean hogs made slight gains. Most active April futures closed at 88.200 cents per pound, up 1.000 cents. February lean hogs settled at 82.300 cents per pound, up 0.175 cents.

The USDA estimated pork carcass cutout value at $91.69 per cwt, down $0.08 from Thursday.

—All prices in USD

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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