Cattle futures traded mostly sideways this week ahead of the USDA’s monthly Cattle on Feed report. April live cattle was about unchanged at around $234.80 per cwt on Thursday. March feeders traded 10 cents higher to $359.27.

Monthly data on Thursday showed that U.S. cattle slaughtered totaled 2.58 million head in December, up 2 percent year-over-year. That was the first time slaughter was higher than a year ago. However, total slaughter reached 29.8 million head in 2025, down 6.4 percent from the previous year, and the lowest in about a decade due to limited supplies.

Tight feeder cattle supplies remain a tailwind for prices amid tight feedlot supplies.

The USDA will release its January Cattle on Feed report on Friday, which is expected to show continued declines in the U.S. feedlot inventory. Here are the results of a Bloomberg survey of estimates ahead of the report. December placements are expected to be the lowest since 2015, while the Jan. 1 inventory could be the lowest since 2017.

The report will also show the quarterly breakdown of steers and heifers on feed. The November report showed that a high percentage of heifers remained in U.S. feedlots this fall, suggesting a limited number of females are being retained for breeding.

The USDA will also release its bi-annual Cattle report at the end of the month. The report will show a full breakdown of the U.S. cattle herd.

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PAST PERFORMANCE IS NOT INDICATIVE OF FUTURE RESULTS. FUTURES TRADING INVOLVES SUBSTANTIAL RISK AND IS NOT SUITABLE FOR ALL INVESTORS.