DAILY CATTLE MARKET BRIEFING
October 8, 2026
Note: The latest futures settlements available are from Tuesday, October 6. Wednesday's closing numbers were not in the source material.
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1. MARKET SENTIMENT: MODERATELY BULLISH (6.5 / 10)
Cattle futures broke out of a two-week range on Tuesday. Tight fed supplies, strong packer margins and a recovery in slaughter pace all support prices. Several things cap the score:
- Futures have not yet cleared key resistance levels.
- The cutout has been volatile.
- Beef demand is still being tested by high prices, higher energy costs and interest-rate worries.
- The cash market is thin and has not confirmed the rally.
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2. KEY PRICE TRENDS
Futures (Tuesday, Oct 6 settlements)
- December live cattle: 224.100, up 4.125 and a three-week high. It had slipped 1.50 to 219.975 on Monday.
- October live cattle: 221.22, up 3.97. February: 227.17, up 5.12.
- November feeders: 338.275, up 8.15 and the highest since mid-July. They had dipped 1.025 on Monday.
- October feeders: 340.50, up 6.65. January: 331.82, up 9.22.
- Technical buying drove the move as prices cleared resistance at key moving averages and recent highs. Traders also cited rising stocks and waning expectations of a Fed rate hike later this month.
- Technical levels to watch: about 225.60 on December live cattle (the mid-September high) and about 341.50 on November feeders (the 200-day moving average).
- The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 337.22 on Monday, down 0.54. The record is 381.86, set 6/26/26.
Cash fed cattle
- No new negotiated trade this week in any region. Nebraska and the Western Cornbelt were inactive on light demand.
- Last week's trade was steady. Live trade was 220-222 in the North (Western Cornbelt 219-220) and about 226 in the South. Dressed trade was 345-350.
- Tuesday's formula net price was 359.54 on 27,900 head averaging 955 lbs.
- Only 139 negotiated head were confirmed, versus 1,466 a week ago.
- Futures point to higher cash trade ahead.
Boxed beef
- Choice cutout was 378.93 on Tuesday, up 0.67 after a $4.07 gain Monday. Select was 356.34, down 2.23.
- Last week the cutout fell sharply after the early-week highs. Choice finished the week at 374.19, down 4.64, and Select at 354.49, down 1.27.
- The earlier highs reflected tight supply from the ICE-related slaughter cut. Prices fell back once slaughter recovered.
- Packer margins widened to $108.85 per head Tuesday, up from $59.65 Monday (HedgersEdge). Packers have been profitable since July, the longest stretch in several years.
Slaughter
- Last week's slaughter was about 548,000 head, up 64,000 from the prior week and 20,000 below last year.
- Tuesday's slaughter was 110,000, versus 108,000 a week ago and 118,008 a year ago.
- Week-to-date slaughter is 212,000, versus 203,000 last week and 218,510 last year.
- Carcass weights are 952 lbs, flat on the week and 16 lbs above last year. The quality grade is 87.2%, near historic highs.
Feeder and replacement cattle
- Oklahoma City, week over week:
- Steers over 800 lbs were steady to 2.00 lower.
- Steers under 800 lbs were 3.00-8.00 lower.
- Heifer calves were 5.00-10.00 higher after late-week rains.
- Heifers at 600-700 lbs were 5.00 higher.
- Buyers are discounting crossbred, warm-climate-type cattle as colder weather approaches.
- OKC West: steer calves were steady to higher, and demand for high-quality front-end cattle remained very strong.
- USDA reported feeder and stocker marketings for the week ending 9/26 at 9.5% above the 3-year average. The prior week was 28.6% below.
- October and November are the peak replacement marketing months.
- The weaned-versus-unweaned calf spread is widening. It is currently around $50/cwt, and fall health problems and death loss are a concern with unweaned calves.
Feed and grazing
- December corn was 5.08, up 10.75 cents, and Guymon, OK basis is near +$1.00.
- Corn rated good to excellent fell to 54% from 57%.
- Pasture and range rated good to excellent improved to 23% from 19%.
- Southern Plains rains have boosted winter wheat grazing prospects, but cattle availability may be the
October 8, 2026
Note: The latest futures settlements available are from Tuesday, October 6. Wednesday's closing numbers were not in the source material.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
1. MARKET SENTIMENT: MODERATELY BULLISH (6.5 / 10)
Cattle futures broke out of a two-week range on Tuesday. Tight fed supplies, strong packer margins and a recovery in slaughter pace all support prices. Several things cap the score:
- Futures have not yet cleared key resistance levels.
- The cutout has been volatile.
- Beef demand is still being tested by high prices, higher energy costs and interest-rate worries.
- The cash market is thin and has not confirmed the rally.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
2. KEY PRICE TRENDS
Futures (Tuesday, Oct 6 settlements)
- December live cattle: 224.100, up 4.125 and a three-week high. It had slipped 1.50 to 219.975 on Monday.
- October live cattle: 221.22, up 3.97. February: 227.17, up 5.12.
- November feeders: 338.275, up 8.15 and the highest since mid-July. They had dipped 1.025 on Monday.
- October feeders: 340.50, up 6.65. January: 331.82, up 9.22.
- Technical buying drove the move as prices cleared resistance at key moving averages and recent highs. Traders also cited rising stocks and waning expectations of a Fed rate hike later this month.
- Technical levels to watch: about 225.60 on December live cattle (the mid-September high) and about 341.50 on November feeders (the 200-day moving average).
- The CME Feeder Cattle Index was 337.22 on Monday, down 0.54. The record is 381.86, set 6/26/26.
Cash fed cattle
- No new negotiated trade this week in any region. Nebraska and the Western Cornbelt were inactive on light demand.
- Last week's trade was steady. Live trade was 220-222 in the North (Western Cornbelt 219-220) and about 226 in the South. Dressed trade was 345-350.
- Tuesday's formula net price was 359.54 on 27,900 head averaging 955 lbs.
- Only 139 negotiated head were confirmed, versus 1,466 a week ago.
- Futures point to higher cash trade ahead.
Boxed beef
- Choice cutout was 378.93 on Tuesday, up 0.67 after a $4.07 gain Monday. Select was 356.34, down 2.23.
- Last week the cutout fell sharply after the early-week highs. Choice finished the week at 374.19, down 4.64, and Select at 354.49, down 1.27.
- The earlier highs reflected tight supply from the ICE-related slaughter cut. Prices fell back once slaughter recovered.
- Packer margins widened to $108.85 per head Tuesday, up from $59.65 Monday (HedgersEdge). Packers have been profitable since July, the longest stretch in several years.
Slaughter
- Last week's slaughter was about 548,000 head, up 64,000 from the prior week and 20,000 below last year.
- Tuesday's slaughter was 110,000, versus 108,000 a week ago and 118,008 a year ago.
- Week-to-date slaughter is 212,000, versus 203,000 last week and 218,510 last year.
- Carcass weights are 952 lbs, flat on the week and 16 lbs above last year. The quality grade is 87.2%, near historic highs.
Feeder and replacement cattle
- Oklahoma City, week over week:
- Steers over 800 lbs were steady to 2.00 lower.
- Steers under 800 lbs were 3.00-8.00 lower.
- Heifer calves were 5.00-10.00 higher after late-week rains.
- Heifers at 600-700 lbs were 5.00 higher.
- Buyers are discounting crossbred, warm-climate-type cattle as colder weather approaches.
- OKC West: steer calves were steady to higher, and demand for high-quality front-end cattle remained very strong.
- USDA reported feeder and stocker marketings for the week ending 9/26 at 9.5% above the 3-year average. The prior week was 28.6% below.
- October and November are the peak replacement marketing months.
- The weaned-versus-unweaned calf spread is widening. It is currently around $50/cwt, and fall health problems and death loss are a concern with unweaned calves.
Feed and grazing
- December corn was 5.08, up 10.75 cents, and Guymon, OK basis is near +$1.00.
- Corn rated good to excellent fell to 54% from 57%.
- Pasture and range rated good to excellent improved to 23% from 19%.
- Southern Plains rains have boosted winter wheat grazing prospects, but cattle availability may be the
For more detailed information or specific market data, please contact your local extension office or market analyst.