by Andrew Griffith, Livestock Marketing Specialist
October 31, 2025
FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded $3 to $4 lower this week compared to a week ago on a live basis. Prices on a live basis were mainly $235 while dressed prices were mainly $360 to $362.
The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $230.02 live, down $9.01 compared to a week ago and $358.49 dressed down $11.92 compared to last week. A year ago, prices were $189.82 live and $297.00 dressed.
Cattle feeders are reluctant to market cattle this week due to the price decline on the heels of talk concerning importing beef from Argentina. This may be a logical move on the part of cattle feeders as feeding those cattle one more week or two more weeks will not change the quality of the animal and may provide the market time to rebound. There are certainly cattle that have to leave the feedlot this week, but feedlots are not concerned about space. Most if not all feedlots can continue to purchase feeder cattle without selling any finished cattle as pen space is abundant. I doubt many feedlots will delay marketings, but it is an alternative if they think finished cattle prices may rebound in the coming weeks.
BEEF CUTOUT
At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $378.67 up $0.40 from Thursday and up $2.77 from a week ago. The Select cutout was $359.23 down $0.29 from Thursday and up $1.62 from a week ago. The Choice Select spread was $19.44 compared to $18.29 a week ago.
The announcement by President Trump of importing more beef from Argentina was for the purpose of reducing beef prices. His statement has had little effect on beef prices and tremendous impact on cattle prices. The idea that beef prices can be influenced so easily was a touch naïve. These comments have quickly ambushed the American cattle producer with their unintended consequences. As it relates to reducing beef prices domestically, the President is really only talking about ground beef. Nearly every ounce of imported beef is lean grinding beef except for some muscle cuts coming from Canada. This means that more beef imports would really only influence ground beef prices if they impact anything at all. In fact, the lean grinding beef is needed to mix with trimmings and fat from domestically produced finished cattle, because it adds value to the fat and whole carcass. One person’s opinion is that fundamentals will rule the day. It will take a little time to determine if that is the case or not.
OUTLOOK
Based on Tennessee weekly auction reports, steer prices were $12 to $25 lower compared to last week while heifer prices were $15 to $26 lower compared to a week ago. Slaughter cow prices were $4 to $5 lower compared to the previous week while bull prices were $2 to $3 lower compared to a week ago. It does not get any better than the President of the country making silly statements about a market he likely knows little about. Wait! It does get better. Futures traders responded “rationally” by sending cattle futures markets into the cellar the past couple of weeks. This trade reaction has now reduced the value of every class of animal in the beef cattle world. This does not mean there are not opportunities in the cattle industry as there are always opportunities. In fact, there may be more profit opportunities now than there were a couple of weeks ago, but this does require a person to be willing to make decisions and perform duties they may not typically undertake. What is being insinuated here? Cattle prices are much cheaper than they were one week ago. If a person is a seller, then this may be considered a “bad thing,” but if a person is willing to purchase cattle on a slightly depressed market, then it could be considered a “good thing.” This is why flexibility is important in the cattle industry. It is understood that many cattle producers have long standing cow-calf operations with many years of genetics behind the herd. It is also understood that many people have specialized in the cow-calf business, and may not always understand all the aspects of the remainder of the supply chain. This means jumping into a different cattle enterprise today may not be the best option as there can be a steep learning curve. What it does mean though is that cattle producers should begin studying alternatives so they can take advantage of opportunities in the future. What is also understood is that most people will read these statements and simply forget about them in a matter of seconds, but there will be a few people who take action.
ASK ANDREW, TN THINK TANK
A simple observation is that everything in life is a learning opportunity. This means there is an educational component to everything in life. What amazes me is how often we fail to learn from our own experiences and other’s experiences. It seems like it would be beneficial to learn from other’s mistakes instead of trying the same thing they did and thus produce similar results. The Good Lord gave us two ears and one mouth, which surely means we should listen at least twice as much as we speak. As an educator, I have to speak frequently, but it is typically on subject matter that is my specialty. However, I still struggle with speaking more often than I should. Despite my shortcomings, I have learned that listening can result in more benefit to me than speaking. When a person listens, they know everything they already knew plus what was learned from someone else who was speaking. The challenge with this can sometimes be weeding through the information of those who enjoy hearing themselves talk. Don’t be that person!
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 $229.68 -1.43; February $227.68 -1.83; April $226.73 -1.98; Feeder cattle –November $338.88 -2.95; January $331.90 -2.33; March $327.13 -2.10; April $325.73 -2.18; December corn closed at $4.32 up 1 cent from Thursday.