by Andrew Griffith, Livestock Marketing Specialist
September 4, 2026
FED CATTLE
Fed cattle steady to $1 lower on a live basis compared to last week. Prices on a live basis were mainly $217 to $218 while dressed prices were mainly $343 to $346.
The 5-area weighted average prices through Thursday were $217.91 live, down $0.74 from last week and $345.23 dressed, down $0.07 from last week. A year ago, prices were $242.59 live and $382.75 dressed.
Cattle feeders were probably fairly tickled to receive somewhat steady money this week as finished cattle price erosion has been swift and deep. The quick decline in output prices and increasing price of corn has put the squeeze on cattle feeders with their only form of recourse being what they pay for feeder cattle. Despite producers holding on to feeder cattle with the hope of a higher price, those cattle will make their way to feedlots sooner rather than later with either new ownership or placing them in a custom feedlot. It is difficult to encourage someone to own their cattle in the feedlot when the price of feed is increasing, but someone has to take the risk. Despite the risk, there could be a nice reward in six months.
BEEF CUTOUT
At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $375.03 down $1.87 from Thursday and down $1.36 from a week ago. The Select cutout was $354.23 up $3.51 from Thursday and down $7.77 from last week. The Choice Select spread was $20.80 compared to $14.39 a week ago.
Very little change week-over-week from the packer standpoint. Boxed beef prices found themselves on either side of unchanged as the market enters Labor Day weekend. Buying for the long weekend was completed two to three weeks ago for most restaurants, retailers, and food service customers. However, if beef movement is good through the weekend, then there will be buying to restock the beef counter the next couple of weeks. Entities will not purchase at a level that will completely restock the beef counter, because the market is entering a seasonal period that typically has softer demand. The beef market failed to breakout during the summer grilling season, which does not bode well for the market the next three months. This may appear to be a negative to some onlookers, but beef prices have been trading at near record levels (barring one week during Covid) for several months. Beef demand remains strong, and consumers continue to send the signal to the market that they want beef. Prices will decline at some point.
OUTLOOK
Based on Tennessee weekly auction market average prices, steer prices were $4 to $13 lower compared to last week, while heifer prices were $5 to $12 lower compared to the previous week. Slaughter cow prices were $2 to $5 lower this week compared to a week ago while slaughter bull prices were $1 to $3 lower compared to last week. Cattle markets struggled to find footing again this week as feeder cattle futures continued to move lower the first half of the week. Tyson’s announcement of closing and selling facilities was the first shock to the market that was quickly followed by President Trump’s announcements. Using September feeder cattle futures as the example, the market price declined $18 per hundredweight before stabilizing. It is difficult to blame the decline on Tyson and Trump completely as the futures market had been in a down trend since the last week of June. Thus, as much as everyone would like to blame President Trump and Tyson, they are not the sole reason for cattle prices declining. Coming back to this week’s trade, September feeder cattle bounced off the lows and posted close to a $7 gain from Wednesday to Thursday. This may be a sign the market has found support between $315 and $320 per hundredweight. It will take several more days of trading to shed more light on such a statement, but there is a good possibility the market has corrected. The one fundamental factor that continues to be bearish towards cattle is higher corn and soybean meal prices. Since the end of June, corn prices have increased about $1 per bushel while soybean meal prices have increased approximately $50 per ton. This puts further pressure on cattle feeders as they run breakeven analysis on lots of feeder cattle. At this time, feed prices are not expected to soften as there are concerns about crop yields in the Midwest. An additional challenge with be seasonal price pressure in cattle markets, which will make it that much more difficult to push prices higher.
ASK ANDREW, TN THINK TANK
In an attempt to answer a couple of questions, this section will probably generate more questions. On August 31st, USDA released information on the “Ranchers First Initiative.” The first tool described was the Beef Retention and National Development (BRAND) endorsement for Livestock Risk Protection (LRP). The endorsement insures the economic value of retaining heifers for breeding over a two-year period. In theory, it establishes a “protected value” based on the expected heifer slaughter value when enrolled. If the projected or realized slaughter value ever exceeds the economic value or retaining the female as breeding stock, an indemnity would pay the difference. It is unclear how this will be implemented at this time. Other supportive efforts include Strengthening Processing for U.S. Ranchers (SPUR), which supports small and regional beef slaughter facilities, opening grasslands through ECP and CRP, and encouraging beef purchases in prisons, hospitals and similar facilities. Time will tell what help this will provide and the unintended consequences.
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 –October $212.95 -1.35; December $214.73 -1.40; February $216.58 -1.15; Feeder cattle –September $324.83 -1.03; October $320.15 -0.95; November $314.73 -0.58; January $308.00 +0.08; September corn closed at $5.12 down 3 cents from Thursday.