Cattle Market Guys - Tuesday Check In 7-28-2026

Cattle futures just hit a four-month low, feeder cattle prices are sliding on thin volume, and now USDA drops a bombshell: the US-Mexico border is reopening to cattle trade after more than a year of screwworm-driven shutdowns. Brock and Jim break down why this Tuesday's numbers matter more than most. On this episode of Cattle Market Guys, Brock and Jim dig into the latest feeder cattle price data, where 500-549 weight steers and 600-649 weight steers both softened week-over-week, while futures markets swung sharply before stabilizing ahead of the Cattle on Feed report. The pair then shift to the biggest story of the week—USDA's phased reopening of southern livestock ports starting with Douglas, Arizona on August 24th, plus a promising biological breakthrough in Panama using NovoFly genetic technology to fight New World Screwworm. Jim shares firsthand memories of the 1980 screwworm outbreak that shaped border policy for decades. The conversation also covers global beef trade, including a troubling 17.2% year-over-year drop in US beef exports, new market access wins with Chile, Ecuador's fresh trade deal with Canada, and the Meat Institute's cost analysis on mandatory country-of-origin labeling. Jim recalls the 2003 mad cow crisis and how long it took to rebuild lost export relationships. Finally, Brock and Jim unpack this week's cattle futures volatility, a four-month low in live cattle, and what the newest Cattle on Feed report signals for producers heading into August.