US Cattle Market Review for Week 4, January 26, 2026

The monthly cattle finishing report showed that December shipments were down 5.38% year-over-year to 1.554 million head. Sales volumes for the month increased 1.78% year-over-year to 1.773 million head. As of January 1, 11.45 million head were in finishing, down 3.15% year-over-year. This month, we received data on the steer and heifer populations: the heifer population as of January 1 was down 3.07% year-over-year (versus a 3.22% decline for steers), and the ratio was 38.73%, up from last year's figure of 38.70%.

Cold storage data showed that beef inventories as of December 31 were down 3.51% year-over-year to 437.46 million pounds. This represents a 2.8% increase from the previous month, but remains the lowest December level since 2009.

Cattle futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) fell slightly as the market assessed the impact of a powerful winter storm that battered the United States with heavy snow and freezing rain from the Central Plains to the East Coast, Reuters reported , citing the National Weather Service.

Don Roose, president of US Commodities, stated that the expected worsening weather in major US population centers could reduce demand as Americans choose to stay home rather than go out to restaurants. However, Roose noted that the weather forecast could also prompt people to stock up on meat before the storm arrives. Roose called this a "double-edged sword."

Wholesale beef prices rose Friday afternoon , widening the difference between Choice and Select beef to $6.53. An estimated 535,000 head of USDA-regulated cattle will be slaughtered this week. That's 27,000 head fewer than last week and 58,858 fewer than the same week last year.

WEEKLY COST OF CUTLERY CUT.CHOICE

CATTLE SALES

Sale of cattle, heads

Average weight

Week 3

Week 4

Weekly growth,%

Week 3

Week 4

Weekly growth,%

Bulls (live weight)

656

819

24.8%

1,533

1,611

5.1%

Heifers (live weight)

114

324

184.2%

1,292

1,357

5.0%

Bulls (slaughter weight)

78

291

273.1%

914

974

6.6%

Heifers (slaughter weight)

Indicator

Week 4

Previous week

A year ago

Weekly growth,%

Growth per year, %

Volume of cattle slaughter

535,000

562,000

594,000

-4.8%

-9.9%

Live weight

1,470

1,468

1,431

0.1%

2.7%

Slaughter weight

897

897

872

0.0%

2.9%

Beef production (million pounds)

479.0

503.0

517.0

-4.8%

-7.4%

WEEKLY WEIGHTED AVERAGE PRICE OF BULLS

WEEKLY CHOICE/SELECT PRICE SHOULDER

CME: Live Cattle Futures

Week 3

Week 4

Weekly growth,%

February

232.15

234.90

1.2%

April

233.98

236.93

1.3%

June

229.60

232.50

1.3%

CME: Feeder Cattle Futures

January

361.93

364.80

0.8%

March

356.45

360.18

1.0%

April

354.90

358.75

1.1%

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.