Cattle markets have gained support of late. Foremost, this week’s slaughter, as of today, is running 6,000 head above last week.  Last week was 661,000 head, making it one of the top weeks of the year to date. This week could creep up on 670,000 head.

This higher slaughter totals may also inject a little gravity into the wholesale and retail beef markets. September saw record retail beef prices at an average of $7.40 per pound, $0.02 per pound higher than the previous record of June 2020 at the peak of the COVID impact (slaughter was at its low point due to COVID idling in May). Total pounds of beef in freezers were up 5 percent from the previous month but down 6 percent from last year.   Live cattle futures ended W...