Caught the cattle futures action last week and it was pretty mixed. Live cattle contracts mostly pulled back 47 cents to a buck seventy-five, though February was the outlier - actually gained 35 cents on some cash strength. That monthly contract is up almost a dollar for the week, which is interesting. Feeder cattle got hit harder, down around 4.85 to 5 bucks across the board.

What caught my eye was the USDA cattle inventory numbers. Total herd sitting at 86.155 million head, down just under half a percent year-over-year. Beef cows specifically dropped 1.02% to 27.607 million, but replacement heifers ticked up 0.89% to 4.714 million. The Fed Cattle Exchange auction on Friday showed live sales at 240-241 on decent volume, so there's still cash interest even with futures weakness.

Managed money kept adding to their longs - picked up over 4,200 contracts in live cattle futures the week before. Specs in feeder cattle did the same, adding 546 contracts. Slaughter last week came in at 531,000 head, running below both the prior week and year-ago comparisons. The boxed beef spread narrowed a bit, choice down 2.10 to 365.56 while select held up better. All in all, cattle markets showing typical seasonal chop but worth watching how the herd numbers play out going forward.