by Andrew Griffith, Livestock Marketing Specialist
November 28, 2025
FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded $8 to $9 lower this week compared to a week ago on a live basis. Prices on a live basis ranged from $207 to $210 while dressed prices were mainly $328 to $330.
The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $209.34 live, down $8.23 compared to a week ago and $329.38 dressed down $14.03 compared to last week. A year ago, prices were $189.97 live and $296.63 dressed.
The finished cattle market was sharply lower this week as cash price followed live cattle futures lower. This week’s 5-area weighted average price for finished cattle is the lowest price since April while the December live cattle futures prices is at its lowest point since the end of June. Fundamentals have not changed other than Tyson announcing the closure of its slaughter facility in Lexington, Nebraska and some changes to a plant in Texas. This announcement does not solve the abundance of slaughter capacity in the industry right now, but packers used it as a way to offer less this week. This is likely only the first of several similar announcements as more slaughter facilities will likely shutter or close.
BEEF CUTOUT
At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $366.89 down $1.39 from Thursday and down $4.72 from a week ago. The Select cutout was $350.38 down $5.13 from Thursday and down $8.04 from a week ago. The Choice Select spread was $16.51 compared to $13.19 a week ago.
Now that Thanksgiving has passed, the focus will be on end of the year holiday meals including Christmas and the New Year. The question is if consumers will stick to their tradition and make beef the centerpiece of the holiday meals. It is not simply meals on the holiday, but the quantity of food service meals that occur leading up to the actual holidays that provide support for beef prices and drive prices higher. Prime rib will be one price to keep an eye on as many consumers prefer prime rib for Christmas. If this price is not supported then there could be cause for concern. Alternatively, if prime rib prices gain some traction, then one may be able to say beef demand remains intact. Prices at the wholesale level should be supported in the near term as most purchases the next couple of weeks will be geared toward the holidays. The expectation is continued strong beef demand as the consumer has not demonstrated otherwise. Strong demand will keep beef prices elevated at wholesale and retail levels.
OUTLOOK
Trends could not be established this week due to limited receipts and the Thanksgiving holiday resulting in most markets being closed for the week. There were a couple of early week sales that had reduced feeder cattle numbers with notes on lower quality cattle. Despite the closure of most weekly auction markets, there was still plenty of action in the futures market. Using January feeder cattle futures as the brief example, Monday’s trade was down the limit of $9.25 per hundredweight from Friday and then increased $8.15 per hundredweight over the next two days before being closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving. The market reopened on Friday showing another day of strong gains that placed the January contract back to previous week levels. This is a lot of price movement that presents both challenges and opportunities. Most cattle producers will only recognize softer prices relative to what prices were six to eight weeks ago. What is overlooked is the buying opportunity that was present on some classes of cattle. It is understandable that many operations are not in to purchasing and selling cattle on a regular basis. However, opportunities are present in nearly every cattle market whether it be an increasing, decreasing or stagnant market. The market action to note from November 22nd was the West Kentucky Select Bred Heifer Sale where 210 head of bred heifers were marketed at the Kentucky-Tennessee Livestock Auction in Guthrie, Kentucky. The average price across all breed types was $4,602 per head. The market average was topped by the 18 head of Black Simental and Gelbvieh sired heifers with an average sale price of $4,789 per head. The other breed types exceeding the overall average include black-white face ($4,733), Purebred Reg Angus ($4,700), Angus cross ($4,628) and Ultrablacks ($4,619). The market for these females was strong, but this is probably a fair price considering most slaughter cows are worth $2,000 or more per head. That is a strong salvage value on something that will be ground beef.
ASK ANDREW, TN THINK TANK
Kenny Burdine at the University of Kentucky wrote a thoughtful article concerning price risk management planning recently. This brought to mind more than just price risk management planning. Cow-calf producers marketing plan begins with the cows and bulls in the breeding herd. Each of those animals have certain genetic potential and can fail to meet that potential or meet that potential but not exceed it. That potential is met with proper nutritional planning and health management, which all play into the marketing plan. Beyond production, management decisions such as castration of males and weaning and preconditioning, and backgrounding influence the marketing plan. Next, the marketing plan is impacted by type of market including weekly auction, special feeder calf sale, video sale, private treaty sale, seasonal trends, and random events. Being successful requires planning on the front end, which was a portion of Kenny’s point for price risk management. This all falls under the 7-P rule, which is not meant for print publication.
Please send questions and comments to agriff14@utk.edu.
FRIDAY’S FUTURES MARKET CLOSING PRICES
Friday’s closing prices were as follows: Live/fed cattle –December $215.58 +4.55; February $217.85 +4.93; April $219.55 +5.30; Feeder cattle –January $323.98 +8.85; March $317.85 +8.80; April $316.63 +8.93; May $314.58 +8.73; December corn closed at $4.36 up 4 cents from Thursday.