US Cattle Market Review for Week 36, September 8, 2025
Photo is illustrative in nature. From open sources.
Rising beef prices have supported cattle futures for months, and traders are now assessing whether high prices could begin to put pressure on beef demand at the end of the summer grilling season.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that the wholesale price of prime boxed beef fell $1.80 per hundredweight on Thursday to $414.21 per hundredweight, below the previous day's high, which was the highest since May 2020.
Live cattle futures fell 97 cents to $1.20 on Friday, while the October contract fell $3.67. Cattle sold on the cash markets last week at $242-$243, up $1 in the South and down $2-$3 in the North. Feeder cattle futures closed down $1-$2 on Friday, while the September contract remained stable. The CME Feeder Cattle Index rose $2.61 to $363.96 on September 4.
Weekly EXPORT sales data showed that 16,573 tonnes of beef were sold in the week ending August 28, a six-week high. Japan was the largest buyer of American beef last week, with sales of 5,000 tonnes.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated cattle slaughter for the week at 487,000 HEAD. This is significantly lower than last week due to the holiday on Monday, and 60,805 head lower than the same week in 2024 .
WEEKLY COST OF CUTLERY CUT.CHOICE
CATTLE SALES
Sale of cattle, heads
Average weight
Week 35
Week 36
Weekly growth,%
Week 35
Week 36
Weekly growth,%
Bulls (live weight)
13,999
23,423
67.3%
1,502
1,526
1.6%
Heifers (live weight)
5,428
10,867
100.2%
1,361
1,342
-1.4%
Bulls (slaughter weight)
6,992
8 169
16.8%
983
1,003
2.0%
Heifers (slaughter weight)
1,770
974
-45.0%
866
841
-2.9%
WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF BULLS
BEEF PRODUCTION
Indicator
Week 36
Previous week
A year ago
Weekly growth,%
Growth per year, %
Volume of cattle slaughter
487,000
565,000
548,000
-13.8%
-11.1%
Live weight
1,415
1,415
1,409
0.0%
0.4%
Slaughter weight
868
866
860
0.2%
0.9%
Beef production (million pounds)
422.0
488.0
470.0
-13.5%
-10.2%
WEEKLY CHOICE/SELECT PRICE SHOULDER
CME: Live Cattle Futures
Week 35
Week 36
Weekly growth,%
October
239.65
235.98
-1.5%
December
240.78
237.45
-1.4%
February
237.48
238.68
0.5%
CME: Feeder Cattle Futures
September
364.78
359.83
-1.4%
October
364.48
357.90
-1.8%
November
363.60
356.15
-2.0%
For more information on the US cattle market (cattle prices, beef prices by category, and production trends), check out Meatinfo.ru's weekly MEAT market reviews in RUSSIA and globally. These weekly reviews are available with a subscription.