Skip to navigationSkip to main contentSkip to right columnADVERTISEMENTJim WyckoffMon, June 29, 2026 at 4:56 PM GMT+2 5 min readCattle behind barn fence by dusanpetkovic via IstockAugust live cattle futures on Friday fell $1.40 to $245.825 and for the week were down 80 cents. August feeder cattle futures lost $3.45 to $369.825 and for the week were up $3.25.The cattle futures markets saw some profit-taking on Friday, led by feeders.Front and center for the cattle markets and the entire U.S. cattle industry is the New World screwworm (NWS) parasite that has been detected in the southern U.S. As of this morning, NWS cases detected in U.S. had risen to 27— all in Texas and New Mexico, with the newest two cases in Texas. There are presently 21 active cases, all in Texas.More News from BarchartCocoa Prices Pressured by Larger Global SuppliesArabica Coffee Prices Jump as Heavy Rains Delay Brazil Coffee HarvestThe Most Critical 2-Week Period of the Year for Grain Prices Is Just Days AwayMarkets move fast. Keep up by reading our FREE midday Barchart Brief newsletter for exclusive charts, analysis, and headlines.In the meantime, the U.S. and Mexico inaugurated a sterile fly plant in Chiapas over the weekend. The plant will eventually produce up to 100 million sterile flies a week, Reuters reported. The U.S. has mostly closed its border to Mexican live cattle imports since May 2025. More than 30,000 animals in Mexico have been infected by the parasite. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins attended the opening of the facility in Metapa de Dominguez, near the Guatemala border. The plant, a joint U.S.-Mexico project, cost over $50 million. The facility in Metapa, which is within Chiapas, is expected to produce up to 100 million sterile flies a week, and combined with an existing facility in Panama, comes closer to the 500 million a week figure that helped eradicate the pest from North America decades ago. The U.S. has pledged an additional $84 million to stop the screwworm's spread, warning that a major outbreak could cost the U.S. agriculture sector more than $700 million each year. So far, the NWS news has favored the bullish cattle futures camp, due to supply concerns. However, the cattle bulls are also worried that consumer psychology regarding buying beef at the meat counter could get dented because of the parasite and its gruesome effects on infected animals.www.barchart.comwww.barchart.comDangerous heat that is building across the central U.S. is likely to stress cattle and hogs in the region the rest of this week. The National Weather Service today said that dangerous heat with temperatures in the 90s and lower 100s across will envelope much of central and eastern U.S. The combination of high humidity values will produce heat indexes between 105-115 degrees across portions of the southern Plains.Terms and Privacy PolicyEU DSA contactPrivacy & Cookie SettingsMore Info