Beef futures slide as packer losses mount - CME
Hog futures edge higher amid steady pork trade
24 February 2026
1 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) live cattle and feeder cattle futures tumbled on Monday on expectations that demand may weaken from beef processors that were losing money buying livestock, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
Tight supplies of cattle have sent cash prices soaring, forcing processors to pay more for animals to slaughter, pushing steak and hamburger costs to record levels for consumers.
Cattle prices rose roughly $1 to $2 per hundredweight in the cash market last week, traders said. However, cash prices may stall if processors reduce their demand or decide they are willing to pay less to avoid such hefty losses, analysts said.
Meatpackers were losing an estimated $347.25 per head of cattle, compared to losses of $328.25 a week ago, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge.
CME April live cattle futures ended down 2.75 cents at 239.25 cents per pound. April feeder cattle fell 3.7 cents to finish at 361.35 cents per pound.
After trading ended on Friday, the US Department of Agriculture said there were 11.5 million head of cattle on feed in US feedlots at the start of February, down 1.8% from a year earlier. Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected a 1.6% decline.
Nationwide, inventories dwindled to a 75-year low as high cattle prices and a persistent drought drove ranchers to send more animals to slaughter, instead of keeping them for breeding.
Wildfires in the US Plains last week killed more cattle and wiped out their food sources by burning up grazing lands. The loss of grass in Oklahoma and Kansas sent ranchers scrambling for donations of hay to feed their herds as some face the prospect of running out of supplies.
In the pork market, CME April hogs settled 0.025 cent higher at 93.7 cents per pound.
