Live Cattle

The finished beef animal contract on the CME, anchoring US meat pricing.

Overview

Futures trade 40,000 pounds of fed steers, cash settled against a five area negotiated price. Steers are finished on feed for 120 to 180 days in southern plains feedyards, then slaughter at 1,200 to 1,400 pounds. The cattle cycle runs a decade, since gestation is nine months and heifers held back for breeding delay beef, and drought drives liquidation, as in 2011 12 and 2021 22, which cut the US herd toward 70 year lows and sent retail beef to records in 2024. Feed costs, corn and distillers grains, set finishing margins, and the monthly cattle on feed report moves markets.