Sort & Cull

After a topsy-turvy week where headlines drove the contracts' direction, cattle futures have entered this week seeming to be pondering the question: Now what?

Following last week's volatile state where news surrounding New World screwworm solely drove the market, traders are now desperate for some fundamental support to help push the complex past last week's headlines. But, unfortunately, traders may be challenged to find the level of support they need.

For starters, technical pressure is currently plaguing the live cattle contracts at the market's 40-day moving average and discouraging the feeder cattle contracts at their 100-day moving average. Both these thresholds continue to be too much of a barrier for the market to overcome at this point.

Secondly, with packers slowly but surely securing more and more cattle, one has to wonder how this week's and next week's cash cattle trade will pan out. Last week, Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $405, which is fully steady with the previous week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded at mostly $256 to $258, which is $1.00 lower to $1.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Last week 78,391 head traded in the negotiated cash cattle market, of which 67% (52,892 head) were committed to the market's nearby delivery, while the remaining 33% (25,499 head) were committed to the market's deferred delivery option. New showlists appear to be mixed higher in Kansas, somewhat lower in Texas, and lower in Nebraska/Colorado.

And last, but certainly not least, the board has proven time and time again that it's becoming all the more volatile; unfortunately that's simply not going to change.

So, between technical pressure at key resistance points, concern about the cash market's ability to trade higher and increased volatility, traders may be hard-pressed this upcoming week to see the level of support they need to push the contracts any higher. But as always, time will tell and thankfully beef demand has remained a stable facet that traders and the market alike are pleased to rely on.

ShayLe Stewart can be reached at ShayLe.Stewart@dtn.com

(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.