Chicago | Reuters – Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures fell on Wednesday on long liquidation by funds and as sinking beef prices and eroding packer margins weighed on the market.
Feeder cattle futures also retreated in a technical correction after four consecutive sessions of gains that were fueled by concerns over tightening U.S. supplies.
“We are seeing more pushback from consumers on high retail beef prices and packers are scaling back their coverage as a result. This led to a weak boxed beef market today, pressuring futures,” said Karl Setzer, partner at Consus Ag Consulting.
Read Also
CBOT Weekly: Soybean, wheat futures come down
Soybean and wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade tumbled during the week ended Sept. 24, 2025, but corn futures stayed rangebound.
CME December live cattle LCZ25 ended 1.925 cents lower at 236.825 cents per pound. October feeder cattle FCV25 ended at 359.625 cents per pound, down 2.500 cents after hitting a three-week high in the prior session on worries about tight supplies following news that Mexico had confirmed a case of New World screwworm, a damaging livestock pest, less than 70 miles from the U.S. border.
Beef prices have been falling from recent peaks as high prices dent demand and as cooler weather cuts consumer purchases for cookouts.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said the choice boxed beef cutout fell by $3.41 to $377.39 per hundredweight, while the select cutout was down $3.48 at $356.42 per cwt.
Meanwhile, elevated cash cattle prices and sinking beef values further eroded processing margins as beef packers were estimated to be losing $132.70 per head on Wednesday, compared to losses of $52.25 per head a week ago and profits of $46.00 per head two weeks ago, according to livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.
In the pork market, lean hogs posted losses in a fund-selling retreat from contract highs notched in the prior session, with December futures LHV25 down 2.600 cents at 88.125 cents per pound.
Analysts expect Thursday’s quarterly USDA hog herd report to show September 1 U.S. supplies about steady from a year earlier, according to a Reuters poll.
