US: Cattle Market Review Week 22, June 2, 2025

“Cash cattle markets were quite strong again,” said Austin Schroeder, senior commodity analyst at Brugler Marketing and Management, adding that rising beef prices also helped support the market. The USDA reported that the average cash cattle price last week was a record $226.97. That was the sixth straight weekly increase and the fifth straight record. Wholesale beef prices were mixed on Tuesday, with Choice up 30 cents to $361.85 and Select down 49 cents to $350.83. Processor margins improved but remain deeply in the red.

USDA EXPORT sales data showed 14,695 tonnes of beef were sold in the week ending May 22, a six-week high. Japan was the largest buyer with 4,200 tonnes, of which 3,100 tonnes went to SOUTH KOREA. Export shipments fell again to 12,644 tonnes. Japan and South Korea were the largest buyers with 4,000 tonnes each.

The USDA estimates that there were 11.376 million HEAD of cattle in large feedlots (greater than 1,000 head) as of May 1 , down 178,000 head (1.5%) from a year earlier. In April, placement volumes were down 2.6%, and sales volumes were down 2.5%. The data from the report is completely neutral and should not impact price dynamics, especially after the long holiday weekend.

The USDA's wholesale beef price report was higher Friday afternoon, with the Chc/Sel spread at $9.69. Choice beef was up 25 cents at $366.34, while Select beef was $3.01 higher at $356.65. USDA federally inspected cattle slaughter for the week was 477,000 head, down 61,910 head from the same holiday week last year.

The USDA estimates that there were 893.6 million pounds of red MEAT in cold storage as of April 30, up 39.5 million pounds from March but down 56.0 million pounds from a year ago. Beef inventories totaled 418.1 million pounds, down 7.0 million pounds from March and less than the five-year average decline of 16.5 million pounds during the month. However, beef inventories were down 8.2 million pounds (1.9%) from a year ago and down 52.1 million pounds (11.1%) from the five-year average.

WEEKLY COST OF CUT OUT CAT.CHOICE

CATTLE SALES

Sale of cattle, heads

Average weight

Week 21

Week 22

Growth per week,%

Week 21

Week 22

Growth per week,%

Bulls (live weight)

9 634

17 769

84.4%

1 506

1 459

-3.1%

Heifers (live weight)

5 899

6 718

13.9%

1 344

1 309

-2.6%

Bulls (slaughter weight)

6 458

11 728

81.6%

975

951

-2.5%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

3 465

1,070

-69.1%

866

869

0.3%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE BULL PRICE

BEEF PRODUCTION                                                                     

Indicator

Week 22

Previous week

A year ago

Growth per week,%

Growth per year, %

Volume of cattle slaughter

477,000

570,000

539,000

-16.3%

-11.5%

Live weight

1,425

1,430

1 396

-0.3%

2.1%

Slaughter weight

872

874

851

-0.2%

2.5%

Beef Production (million pounds)

415,0

497,0

458,0

-16.5%

-9.4%

WEEKLY CHOICE/SELECT PRICE SHOULDER

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 21

Week 22

Growth per week,%

June

215.80

215.48

-0.1%

August

210.45

209.35

-0.5%

October

208.10

207.40

-0.3%

CME: Feeder Cattle Futures

August

300.38

298.83

-0.5%

September

299.35

297.70

-0.6%

October

297.35

295.70

-0.6%

You can learn more about the state of the cattle market in the usa (cattle prices, cost of beef by category, production dynamics) in the weekly reviews of the meat market in RUSSIA and in the world from Meatinfo.ru. Weekly reviews are available as part of a subscription.