Live cattle futures declined heading into the Friday close, with nearby contracts posting losses ranging from $1.52 to $2.47 as traders lightened positions ahead of the monthly Cattle on Feed report.
Preliminary open interest rose by 5,406 contracts on the session, with 3,361 contracts exiting the April position ahead of the key government data release.
Cash trade showed notable strength on Friday, with prices in the South climbing $7 to $8 from the prior week to reach $210 per hundredweight.
Northern markets were similarly firm, with business transacted at $212 to $216, representing a week-over-week improvement of $6 to $9.
Feeder cattle futures also pulled back ahead of the report, closing down $1.87 to $4.00, though the March contract still managed a weekly gain of $4.50.
The CME Feeder Cattle Index added another $1.84 on March 20, bringing the average price to $287.78 per hundredweight.
The monthly Cattle on Feed report revealed February placements at 1.554 million head, a decline of 17.78% from the prior year and below the average trade estimate heading into the release.
February marketings came in at 1.663 million head, down 8.92% year over year, while March 1 on-feed inventory totaled 11.577 million head, a 2.2% decline versus last year and deeper than the trade’s estimated 1.7% drop.
Commitment of Traders data indicated that speculators added a net 7,359 contracts to the long side of live cattle futures and options as of March 18, pushing the total net long position to 120,175 contracts.
Feeder cattle speculators continued building their record net long position, adding another 1,138 contracts to reach 31,197 contracts as of the same reporting week.
The USDA National Wholesale Boxed Beef report delivered a mixed result on Friday afternoon, with Choice boxes falling $2.61 to $325.45 per hundredweight while Select rose 26 cents to $309.62.
The Choice-Select spread narrowed to $15.83, while federally inspected cattle slaughter for the prior week was estimated by the USDA at 560,000 head, down 24,000 from the previous week and 32,712 below the same week one year earlier.
April 2025 Live Cattle settled at $206.950, down $1.525, while June 2025 fell $2.250 to close at $202.775 and the August 2025 contract dropped $2.475 to $199.350.
Among feeder contracts, March 2025 Feeder Cattle closed at $286.475, down $1.875, with April off $3.475 at $284.975 and May shedding $4.000 to finish at $285.100.
