Cattle futures climb on tightest US herd since 1951 - CME
Lean hogs edge higher as broader protein markets firm
4 February 2026
1 minute read
By: CME live and feeder cattle futures bounced for the second day on Tuesday on continued support from Friday's US Department of Agriculture (USDA) biannual report that stated the US cattle herd had fallen to its smallest size since 1951, reported Reuters.
CME April live cattle finished 2.1 cents higher at 241.625 cents per pound, while March feeder cattle finished up 1.575 at 367.925 cents per pound.
CME April lean hogs settled 1.525 cents higher at 98.15 cents per pound.
"There's still residual leftover support from the inventory report on Friday showing tightening supplies," said Dan Basse, president of AgResource. "It's still a bullish tailwind."
The nation had 86.2 million cattle and calves as of January 1, the USDA said in the report, after a persistent drought drove ranchers to slash their herds. That was down 0.4% from a year earlier, when the herd also hit its lowest level since 1951.
Market players meanwhile are keeping a close eye on the spread of screwworm in Mexico as it inches closer to the US-Mexico border.
The US Department of Agriculture will disperse glow-in-the-dark, sterile flies in Mexico, closer to the US border, and in southern Texas, as officials race to keep flesh-eating New World screwworm pests from spreading in Mexico, the agency said.
The northernmost active case in Mexico was about 200 miles away from the US border, and cases have continued to spread in Tamaulipas and further south in Mexico.
The USDA priced choice boxed beef at $370.87 per hundredweight (cwt) as of Tuesday morning, up $2.66 from the previous day, and select boxed beef at $367.76 per cwt, up $2.85.
