Cattle and Hog Prices Continue to Decline Amid Regulatory Changes
Live cattle futures fell by $1.20 on Friday as prices continued a four-week downtrend amid technical selling, with November feeder cattle also declining significantly for the week. Market pressure has been exacerbated by President Trump's announcement that his administration will allow farmers and ranchers to process their own meat products in an effort to reduce beef costs at retail levels. The reopening of the southern U.S. border and tariff-free beef imports have further pressured prices, pushing live cattle futures near nine-month lows. Despite improved packer margins due to tighter slaughter capacity, soft cash market fundamentals continue to favor processors over feedlot operators. The USDA reported lower average cash cattle trading last week compared to the previous one. Lean hog futures saw a modest rebound on Friday but remain in an overall downtrend with declining cash prices and bearish sentiment persisting.
Topics: cattle prices commodity futures hog prices U.S. meat policy