# LIVESTOCK-CME Cattle Futures Decline as USDA Launches Probe into Beef Market | Advanced Economic Solutions

> CME live cattle futures declined as large domestic supplies weighed on prices after a fire at a Tyson Foods slaughterhouse in Kansas temporarily removed a major buyer of livestock. The USDA opened an investigation into whether unfair practices explain the wide gap between cattle and beef prices.

- Date: 2019-08-30 · published 2019-08-30T12:00:00.000Z
- Category: logistics · region US · magnitude medium
- Page: https://feedsoft.ai/events/10032-livestock-cme-cattle-futures-decline-as-usda-launches-probe-into-beef-market
- Commodities: [Live Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/LCATTLE.md), [Feeder Cattle](https://feedsoft.ai/c/FCATTLE.md)

## Why it matters

Reduced packer capacity has shifted cattle to other plants and pressured cash cattle, which weighs on feeder cattle demand and futures values while the USDA probe adds uncertainty to packer pricing.

## Read by commodity

- FCATTLE: bearish ▼
- LCATTLE: bearish ▼

## Linked price moves

| Commodity | Date | Window | Change % | z-score | Why linked |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2019-09-02 | 1 | -3.5% | -4.8 | CME live cattle futures fell as ample cattle supplies met reduced packer demand after the Tyson fire, and the USDA probe added uncertainty, which is the mechanism for the late-August weakness. |
| FCATTLE | 2019-08-29 | 1 | -4.6% | -3.5 | CME cattle futures declined on large supplies, the lost Tyson buyer and the USDA probe, which is directly in the move window and pressured feeder cattle. |
| LCATTLE | 2019-09-03 | 1 | -2.8% | -3.5 | Futures declined on large supplies and a removed buyer after the fire, plus the USDA probe, a negative sentiment backdrop heading into the Sept 3 drop. |

## Similar past events

| Commodity | Date | Event | 5-day % | 20-day % |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| LCATTLE | 2026-05-22 | [Cattle futures fall amid placement, processing concerns \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5387-cattle-futures-fall-amid-placement-processing-concerns-western-livestock-journal.md) | -0.3% | -0.2% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-28 | [USDA to probe beef market after Tyson Foods slaughterhouse fire](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10900-usda-to-probe-beef-market-after-tyson-foods-slaughterhouse-fire.md) | -3.3% | -3.7% |
| LCATTLE | 2019-08-13 | [Cattle futures sink to multiyear lows as Tyson plant fire hangs over market \| Financial Post](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7604-cattle-futures-sink-to-multiyear-lows-as-tyson-plant-fire-hangs-over-market.md) | -4.8% | -9.9% |
| LCATTLE | 2020-05-15 | [Bottleneck in beef industry pushes producers into making key decisions](https://feedsoft.ai/events/53300-bottleneck-in-beef-industry-pushes-producers-into-making-key-decisions.md) | +6.2% | +5.2% |
| LCATTLE | 2025-11-24 | [Tyson Foods to close major US beef plant as cattle supplies dwindle](https://feedsoft.ai/events/6868-tyson-foods-to-close-major-us-beef-plant-as-cattle-supplies-dwindle.md) | +1.3% | +5.8% |
| FCATTLE | 2026-05-22 | [Cattle futures fall amid placement, processing concerns \| Western Livestock Journal](https://feedsoft.ai/events/5387-cattle-futures-fall-amid-placement-processing-concerns-western-livestock-journal.md) | -5.6% | +0.4% |
| FCATTLE | 2019-08-28 | [USDA to probe beef market after Tyson Foods slaughterhouse fire](https://feedsoft.ai/events/10900-usda-to-probe-beef-market-after-tyson-foods-slaughterhouse-fire.md) | -2.2% | +2.2% |
| FCATTLE | 2019-08-13 | [Cattle futures sink to multiyear lows as Tyson plant fire hangs over market \| Financial Post](https://feedsoft.ai/events/7604-cattle-futures-sink-to-multiyear-lows-as-tyson-plant-fire-hangs-over-market.md) | +0.9% | -0.4% |

## Sources

- advancedeconomicsolutions.com: http://www.advancedeconomicsolutions.com/news/livestock-cme-cattle-futures-decline-as-usda-launches-probe-into-beef-market

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Data from Feedsoft AI (https://feedsoft.ai/). For information only; not investment advice.