Live cattle futures held steady with small moves as cash trade stayed quiet; a 138-head lot sold at $249 live in the Fed Cattle Exchange, boxed beef mixed, and weekly slaughter rose vs. last week.Abstract: This report covers Wednesday's cattle market: live futures were largely steady, cash trade quiet, a 138-head sale at $249 live on the Fed Cattle Exchange, boxed beef mixed, and weekly slaughter higher than last week.

SelfRugger

2026-05-01 02:58:32

Abstract generation in progress

Cattle Close with Steady Trade on Wednesday

Aerial view of feed yard with meat cows_ Image by Bilanol via Shutterstock_

Austin Schroeder

Thu, February 19, 2026 at 8:13 AM GMT+9 1 min read

Live cattle futures saw steadier trade on Wednesday, with contracts up a nickel to 30 cents lower across the nearbys. Cash trade has been quiet so far this week. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange auction showed one lot of 138 head sold at $249 live, with the rest of the 1,541 head getting bids of $244-249 and $377 dressed. Feeder cattle futures were down 40 cents to 50 cents higher at the close. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 5 cents to $376.02 on February 17.

Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were mixed in the Wednesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread tightening to $3.17. Choice boxes were down another 96 cents to $363.80, while Select was 41 cents higher to $360.63. USDA estimated Wednesday’s federally inspected cattle slaughter at 113,000 head, taking the weekly total to 315,000 head. That is 24,000 head above last week and 12,837 head below the same week last year.

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Feb 26 Live Cattle closed at $246.600, up $0.050,

Apr 26 Live Cattle closed at $242.525, down $0.275,

Jun 26 Live Cattle closed at $238.425, down $0.025,

Mar 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $370.575, down $0.400,

Apr 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $368.000, up $0.175,

May 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $364.225, up $0.425,

_ 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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