by Andrew Griffith, Livestock Marketing Specialist
June 6, 2025
FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded $5 to $6 higher on a live basis compared to last week. Prices in the South were mainly $227 to $232 while dressed prices were mainly $378 to $380.
The 5-area weighted average prices thru Thursday were $234.16 live, up $5.63 compared to a week ago and $379.77 dressed, up $12.02 from last week. A year ago, prices were $186.73 live and $298.87 dressed.
The price range of finished cattle was extremely wide this week for cattle traded on both a live and a dressed basis. The wide range was primarily due to the price difference in cattle in the South versus those in the North, but even prices in a particular region had a wide range. Some of this is due to regional packers versus larger processors, but some of it may be due to reaching into territory never traversed as it relates to prices. The finished cattle market has shown no signs of slowing down as it continues to push higher. However, as Mark Lowry once said about those guys with muscles in their earlobes, “This too shall pass.” There will be a day when prices do not continue to increase, but it is not today.
BEEF CUTOUT
At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $365.49 down $1.36 from Thursday and down $0.50 from a week ago. The Select cutout was $356.71 up $0.10 from Thursday and down $0.17 from a week ago. The Choice Select spread was $8.78 compared to $9.11 a week ago.
The summer grilling season kicked off with Memorial Day weekend, which means the market is heading into the third week of grilling season. There should be continued support for beef as the Independence Day holiday is only four weeks away, and it does not hurt that Independence Day falls on Friday making it a three-day weekend and more opportunity for consumers to throw beef on the grill. What continues to be interesting is the failure of the Choice Select spread to widen. In fact, it has narrowed the past couple of weeks with no signs of widening. What may be the real story is how the seven primal cuts of beef match up against each other from the Choice and Select perspective. There is rarely much price difference between Choice and Select grade chucks, rounds, short plates and flanks, but Choice ribs, loins and briskets are generally preferred over Select grade cuts. However, the Choice rib primal is underperforming at this point in the game with Select grade rib primal trading at a higher price in some instances. The simple explanation is few cattle are grading Select.
OUTLOOK
Based on Tennessee weekly auction reports, steer prices this week were $1 to $4 higher compared to last week while heifer prices were $2 to $4 higher than the previous week. Slaughter cow prices were $1 to $4 higher compared to a week ago while slaughter bull prices were $1 to $4 higher compared to last week. Feeder cattle futures methodically crept higher the first three trading days of the week before the August contract surged more than $5 per hundredweight higher on Thursday compared to Wednesday. For the week, the August contract was looking to be about $10 higher than the previous Friday. This surge in prices led to some strong prices on load lots of feeder cattle in the state. Load lots of cattle that sold the first three days of the week experienced strong prices, but loads sold after the futures price surge on Thursday were even stronger. Several loads of all black cattle sold Monday and Tuesday with two loads of steers weighing between 760 and 770- pounds trading near $324 per hundredweight. A couple of loads of all black cattle on either side of 850-pounds traded between $301 and $303 per hundredweight while a load of black steers weighing 918-pounds traded at $290.25. Fast forward to the loads trading on Friday, two loads of mixed color steers weighing 850 pounds brought $306.75 and $309 per hundredweight. The load priced at $309 only had two head that were not black, but these prices would indicate the market increased $4 to $6 per hundredweight from the beginning of the week to the end of the week. Similarly, a load of 925-pound mixed color steers traded at $292.50 per hundredweight on Friday, which was $2.25 higher than the similar load of all black cattle trading earlier in the week. The point is how quickly the market can move. The market could have just as easily declined through the week resulting in higher prices for early week sales. What is clear from all of these prices is that cattle feeders need cattle and they are willing to pay for them right now.
ASK ANDREW, TN THINK TANK
It is nice to be invited to an event, party, social gathering, and any number of other things. It is similar to being “picked” on the playground when choosing teams as a child. People appreciate the feeling that comes with being selected or wanted. It boosts their self-esteem and acts as encouragement to them. However, the opposite can be true when someone fails to get an invitation or they are not “picked” to do something. What does this have to do with cattle? All cattle are not created equal, buyers of cattle “invite” or “pick” the cattle they want using their checkbook. The cattle a buyer prefers is generally the first to be invited or picked and this is displayed based on price relative to the weight class of animal. Thus, as cattle producers, part of our job is to make the cattle we have as attractive as we can so they are “picked” by the cattle buyer. As a side note, there are things in life where everybody can be picked/invited, but yet for some reason the majority of people decide they do not want to be a part of those things, even if it would Save them!
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 –June $226.30 +3.40; August $218.88 +2.05; October $215.53 +1.55; Feeder cattle –August $310.15 +1.00; September $309.13 +0.83; October $306.90 +0.83; November $304.30 +0.80; July corn closed at $4.43 up 3 cents from Thursday.