Cattle Closes Lower on Wednesday

December 17, 2025 at 18:33 PM EST

Live cattle futures saw losses of 85 cents to $1.15 on Wednesday. There were another 20 deliveries tendered on Wednesday. Cash trade has been slow this week, with a few early sales at $229. The Wednesday Fed Cattle Exchange online auction showed no sales on the 1,708 head listed and bids of $227 live and $347.50-354 dressed. Feeder cattle futures were down 1.25 to $1.80 across the front months. The CME feeder cattle index from December 16 was up 94 cents from the day prior at $349.79.

Commitment of Traders data in the week ending on 12/2 showed spec funds in live cattle futures and options cutting 10,703 contracts from their net long to 82,208 contracts. Managed money was busy trimming another 2,630 contracts from their net long in the week of December 2 to 13,418 contracts, the smallest since November 2024.

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The December Cattle on Feed report will be released on Friday, with traders looking for November placements to be down 8% from last year and marketings with a 11.3% drop. December 1 on feed is expected to be 1.6% below last year.

USDA Wholesale Boxed Beef prices were higher in the Wednesday afternoon report, with the Chc/Sel spread narrowing to $9.66. Choice boxes were down $2.79 to $356.09, while Select was $2.67 lower at $346.43. USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 118,000 head on Wednesday, with the weekly total at 349,000 head. That was 12,000 head below last week and 13,062 head shy of the same week last year.

Dec 25 Live Cattle closed at $230.300, down $0.850,

Feb 26 Live Cattle closed at $229.550, down $1.150,

Apr 26 Live Cattle closed at $229.125, down $1.150,

Jan 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $341.525, down $1.800,

Mar 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $336.325, down $1.275,

Apr 26 Feeder Cattle closed at $335.025, down $1.275,

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. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.

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