Cattle futures slide on weak cash trade - CME
Lean hog futures also end lower in broad market retreat
8 May 2026
1 minute read
By: Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) cattle futures turned lower on Thursday on technical trading and a weaker cash cattle trade, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
CME June live cattle settled 3.425 cents lower at 250.05 cents per pound. August feeders ended 6.875 cents lower at 366.175 cents per pound.
Boxed beef cutout prices turned lower on Thursday afternoon. Choice cuts were priced $2.68 lower at $386.94 per hundredweight, while select cuts fell $5.21 to $384.42 per cwt, according to US Department of Agriculture data.
Cattle prices may have hit a seasonal peak ahead of Mother's Day, when many families grill meat to celebrate.
The upcoming grilling season and warmer weather typically help support cattle futures, as summer usually ushers in stronger demand for red meat.
Beef packer margins continued to be deep in the red as the US cattle herd remains near a 75-year low, with the closure of the US-Mexico border to cattle imports also constricting supply.
Packers were estimated to lose $219.40 per head of cattle slaughtered on Wednesday, compared with $140.10 lost per head the week prior, according to Denver-based livestock marketing advisory service HedgersEdge. Meatpackers have slowed slaughter pace this week in an effort to regain some leverage, traders said.
Benchmark June lean hogs ended 0.325 cent lower at 99.375 cents per pound.
