CHICAGO, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Chicago Mercantile Exchange feeder cattle futures rallied to a three-month high on Friday after the US Department of Agriculture unexpectedly raised its 2026 US corn harvest outlook, sending prices for the feed grain down sharply.
Live cattle futures followed feeders higher and hit a two-month peak, with technical buying giving the market an additional lift.
The USDA said in a monthly crop report on Friday it expects US farmers to harvest their second-largest crop on record despite adverse summer weather that had most traders anticipating a cut to its production estimate.
Corn futures tumbled by as much as their daily 30-cent-per-bushel trading limit following the report, sending feeder cattle higher on the prospect of lower costs for their biggest input.
“The feeder cattle market is loving this,” said Ross Baldwin, broker and market analyst at John Stewart and Associates. “You get out to the deferred months, and it’s as bullish as you can imagine.”
CME November feeder cattle finished the day up 7.075 cents, or 2.1%, at 341.950 cents per pound. The benchmark contract held underlying technical chart support at its 100-day moving average but hit overhead resistance at its 200-day average.
December live cattle settled up 3.500 cents, or 1.6%, at 227.050 cents per pound after breaking through overhead technical resistance at its 100-day moving average.
Cattle futures had come under pressure this week from sluggish cash market trading and a downturn in wholesale beef prices.
The USDA on Friday quoted the choice boxed beef cutout at $373.35 per hundredweight, down $1.50 from a day earlier.
Meanwhile, CME lean hog futures ended lower on Friday for the fourth straight session, anchored by weak cash hog and pork prices.
Most-active December hogs fell to a contract low of 67.325 cents per pound and settled 0.775 cent lower at 67.825 cents per pound.
(Reporting by Karl Plume, additional reporting by P.J. Huffstutter; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
