Key Highlights

  • Nearby feeder cattle futures traded near 344.25 cents during today's session, up 0.22%.
  • The CME Feeder Cattle Index stood at US$337.07 per hundredweight, up 34 cents.
  • Tyson reported an adjusted beef operating loss of US$138 million in fiscal third quarter.
  • Rising Mexican feeder imports were cited among pressures on prices on October 8.

Nearby Feeders Edge Higher

Nearby feeder cattle futures, the expiring October contract, traded near 344.25 US cents per pound during today's session, up 0.77 cents, or 0.22%, according to market data. They are up 1.02% on the week and 0.11% on the month, and 1.79% lower year to date. November feeders closed at 341.10 cents on Monday, October 12, down 0.85 cents, while the expiring October contract closed at 343.47 cents, down 0.37; on Friday, November feeders had risen 7.07 cents to 341.95.

The Index and the Cash Market

Feeder cattle futures settle against the CME Feeder Cattle Index, which stood at US$337.07 per hundredweight on Monday, up 34 cents, so November futures at 341.10 cents are trading a few dollars above that cash reference. A feedlot buys feeders, adds weight with grain, then sells finished cattle: live steers averaged US$221.13 per hundredweight in the week to October 11, formula sales US$359.64 on a dressed basis and Choice boxed beef US$375.56.

Pressures on the Market

Rising Mexican feeder cattle imports were weighing on feeder prices on Thursday, October 8, according to CME commentary. The commentary also reported profit-taking after earlier gains, weaker wholesale beef and slow cash trade at Plains feedlots, and the day before, November feeders had closed at 335.80 cents, down 2.475.

Why Supply Is the Central Story

Tyson Foods (NYSE:TSN) said in its fiscal third-quarter release that its beef segment made an adjusted operating loss of US$138 million. Coverage of its August update linked this to cattle inventories at their lowest in 75 years and to the US ban on Mexican livestock over New World screwworm, which the US Department of Agriculture planned to start lifting. Feeder cattle are the first rung of the chain: scarce calves and feeders keep placement costs high for feedlots, while packers compete for finished cattle.

Companies: Producers, Agents and Processors

Tyson does not trade feeder futures as a business, but it buys finished cattle that feedlots grow from feeders, so higher feeder costs squeeze its beef margin unless beef prices rise as fast. JBS N.V. (NYSE:JBS) reported on August 10 an adjusted operating loss of US$138 million in North American beef for the second quarter, narrower than a year earlier, as cattle prices rose faster than cutout values.

In Australia, Elders Limited (ASX:ELD) is a livestock agent and rural services group whose chief executive told investors in May that livestock activity was stronger. Australian Agricultural Company (ASX:AAC) breeds and finishes cattle and reported operating profit of A$71.6 million for the year to March 31, 2026, with cattle sales revenue up 15% to A$107.7 million. Texas Roadhouse (NASDAQ:TXRH) is a downstream buyer of beef and reported commodity inflation of 7.0% for its second quarter, now expecting about 5% for 2026.

Calendar: Cattle on Feed on October 23 and the October Contract Expiry

The US Department of Agriculture's Cattle on Feed report is scheduled for October 23, 2026 at 3pm, then November 20, per the NASS calendar, and expiry of the October feeder contract will also move the nearby benchmark. Feeder prices also depend on corn, which traded near US$4.84 per bushel during today's session. Tight cattle supplies could support prices, while faster resumption of Mexican feeder imports, further slippage in boxed beef and consumer resistance to high beef prices could weigh.

In short, scarce feeders keep costs high for feedlots and packers, and the pressure shows in the beef segment losses at the biggest processors.