Cattle Market Guys - Week Wrap Up 8-28-2026

Feeder cattle futures took a beating this week, with 500-549 weight steers sliding $22 off their July highs and 600-649 weight steers forecast to drop another $27 in just seven days. Three separate down days, three separate causes — and Brock and Jim break down why the cattle market got hit from every direction at once. In this Friday wrap of Cattle Market Guys, Brock and Jim unpack the week's biggest cattle market news: the Trump administration's move to waive beef tariffs and expand lean trimming imports, the phased reopening of the US-Mexico border for cattle after screwworm concerns, and a weakening consumer confidence report that piled onto an already jittery cash market. Jim draws parallels to the 1999 beef trimming import debate and the 2005 Canadian border reopening, arguing that markets often react harder to policy headlines than to the actual volume that follows. The two also dig into this week's Cattle on Feed report, which showed record-low July placements and marketings — a sign that despite the short-term price pressure, the underlying cattle supply remains historically tight. Brock and Jim close with practical guidance for producers: don't overreact to a single day's futures swing, watch how import volumes actually materialize over the coming weeks, and track the next Cattle on Feed report closely. This episode covers feeder cattle prices, cash cattle markets, beef import policy, border reopening news, and cattle futures forecasts for the week of August 28, 2026.