by Andrew Griffith, Livestock Marketing Specialist
August 14, 2026
FED CATTLE
Fed cattle traded $7 lower on a live basis compared to last week. Prices on a live basis were mainly $228 to $230 while dressed prices were mainly $363 to $366.
The 5-area weighted average prices through Thursday were $229.40 live, down $5.82 from last week and $365.27 dressed, down $5.89 from last week. A year ago, prices were $242.64 live and $382.90 dressed.
Finished cattle are now trading $13 per hundredweight lower year-over year on a live basis. The market has taken a tremendous hit this week as cattle feeders are in no way willing to pay for feeder cattle because they are on the losing end when it comes to finished cattle prices. The market can talk about supply and fundamentals, which would generally carry significant weight, but the people are who make the market and the psychology of each individual is the dominating factor. In most situations, individuals make decisions that benefit themselves and what they consider profit maximizing. In today’s market, the psychology aspect is outweighing fundamentals. It is nature of the business that is pushing prices lower.
BEEF CUTOUT
At midday Friday, the Choice cutout was $374.73 down $1.17 from Thursday and up $10.51 from a week ago. The Select cutout was $349.11 down $0.13 from Thursday and down $2.02 from last week. The Choice Select spread was $25.62 compared to $13.09 a week ago.
Packers seem to be on more solid footing this week as wholesale beef prices increased several dollars and finished cattle prices are lower. This is certainly the way to turn margins around compared to the previous week. In fact, a back of the feed sack math equation would suggest margins on each animal improved $125 or better. The simple win is packers are paying less for finished cattle on a dressed basis than what they are receiving for a Choice grade carcass. This was certainly a good week for Choice boxes as prices pushed significantly higher compared to its movement the past several weeks. Some of this could be further purchasing for Labor Day weekend, which is only three weeks away. Unfortunately, wholesale beef prices tend to struggle a little following the last summer grilling holiday. This will influence all cattle and beef markets as the market will be looking for the winter holiday season to provide support in late fall. The market should expect prices to remain steady next week, but it would not be surprising to see a softening of prices in the coming weeks.
OUTLOOK
Based on Tennessee weekly auction market average prices, steer prices were unevenly steady compared to last week, while heifer prices were $4 to $8 higher compared to the previous week. Slaughter cow prices were $3 to $6 lower this week compared to a week ago while slaughter bull prices were steady compared to last week. There was tremendous variability across auction markets this week as it relates to feeder cattle. Some markets had much lower prices compared to the previous week and other markers had higher prices. These differences largely correspond to what feeder cattle futures did each day. For instance, early week markets had firmer prices for feeder cattle and this corresponded with a steady feeder cattle futures price. However, middle to late week sales were much softer as feeder cattle futures took a hit on the nose Wednesday and Thursday. Cattle markets have been tough to gauge the past several months as prices have traded in a wide range and volatility seems to be the only constant in the marketplace. Volatility can be both good and bad depending on how a person manages through it. However, most producers tend to market cattle about the same time every year, which means volatility can either be extremely beneficial or it can be extremely harmful to the bottom line. There is no reason to believe this environment is going to change anytime soon. It would seem there is concern on the beef demand side as consumers have drawn a line in the sand. Thus, packers are beginning to do the same with finished cattle trade, which then means cattle feeders have to do the same when purchasing feeder cattle. This is simply the market doing what the market does best and that is send signals to those in the marketplace to do something different. In this case, the market, which is really just people, is saying cattle prices need to be lower. The supply side information remains the same. At this point, heifer retention has not been that tremendous, which means the quantity of feeder cattle will not increase over the next two years.
ASK ANDREW, TN THINK TANK
Weaning is around the corner, and many producers are asking if they should sell calves at weaning or after a preconditioning program. From an animal health standpoint, the answer is easy. Producers should provide a health program for those calves that includes a respiratory vaccine and a clostridial bacterin (“blackleg”). They should also background those calves on the farm at least 45 days, but a longer period is encouraged to ensure better health outcomes. However, the real question is, will a person make more money selling calves at weaning or after a preconditioning program. This depends on what the market price does during the preconditioning period and what resources a producer has to conduct such a management practice. In general, preconditioning pays a higher price and there is more weight to sell. However, some operations are better off owning more cows and selling more calves instead of using resources to precondition calves. Most producers need to sit down with pencil and paper and think through the situation to make an educated decision.
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 –August $223.63 -2.60; October $218.88 -1.18; December $218.38 -1.08; Feeder cattle –August $340.83 -2.00; September $334.55 -2.65; October $325.43 -3.38; November $317.43 -4.05; September corn closed at $4.57 up 9 cents from Thursday.