Valentine Made History. Packers Low-Balled All Week. Screwworm at the Wire. | FFRRR Fri. May 29

The week of May 25, 2026 delivered one for the record books — and not just one record. Valentine Livestock in Valentine, NE set the highest daily weighted average for 7-weight steers in U.S. history: $407.28/cwt on 2,582 head. Five of the top 10 all-time 7-wt steer sales nationally now belong to Valentine — all set on the same day. Meanwhile, packers bid $253 live all week while yards held at $260. Only 1,559 head traded through Thursday morning. The $7 standoff held. Chains ramp back to 530–540K next week — that's the pressure point. Slaughter for the Memorial Day week came in at 448,000 head — the smallest Memorial Day week cattle kill in modern history. YTD kill is running 9.2% below last year's pace. Heavier cattle (avg live weight 1,469 lbs, up 45 lbs year-over-year) are backstopping beef output, but YTD beef production is still 6.6% below the prior year. Boxed beef ribs ran +$18.50/cwt in a single week. Choice cutout closed at $391.47 — net up $1.20 on the week despite two down days Friday. Screwworm is 60 miles from the U.S. border. All southern ports of entry remain closed to livestock imports. No timeline on reopening. Mexican cattle are not coming. That feeder supply hole stays open heading into summer. Strait of Hormuz: U.S. and Iran agreed to a 60-day ceasefire extension. Shipping stays unrestricted — for now. WTI crude sold off on the news, erasing an earlier 3% gain. First crack in 14 straight weeks of fertilizer price increases showed up this week — potash and UAN32 eased. High Plains drought is expanding. Kansas Poor-to-Very Poor winter wheat: 55%. National Good/Excellent: 26%. Nevada and Great Basin fire outlook: above normal through summer. Fallon Livestock Special Feeder Sale — Tuesday, June 9, 2026. burnindaylight.substack.com · burnin-daylight.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices