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Feeder Cattle COT — Week of September 25, 2026

Feeder Cattle COT Report: Week Ending September 25, 2026

Executive summary

The CFTC Disaggregated Commitments of Traders report for Feeder Cattle (FC) for the week ending September 25, 2026, highlights modest speculative short covering and long additions, lifting Managed Money net length to +8,005 contracts (up from +7,211 contracts the prior week). Total open interest expanded by 2,350 contracts to reach 61,983 contracts, rebounding from multi-month lows recorded earlier in September. Commercial positioning saw a substantial drop in Swap Dealer length, with gross long positions declining by 1,337 contracts, while Producer/Merchant net short exposure remained relatively steady at -1,827 contracts.

Positioning (net, extremes vs recent weeks)

Trader Category Long Positions Short Positions Spreading Net Position Prior Week Net
Managed Money 16,242 8,237 11,528 +8,005 +7,211
Producer/Merchant 7,820 9,647 — -1,827 -1,766
Swap Dealers 6,674 621 1,971 +6,053 +7,535
Other Reportables 1,683 14,147 5,505 -12,464 -11,064
Nonreportables 10,560 10,327 — +233 -1,916

Multi-Month Context & Extremes

  • Managed Money: Current net length of +8,005 contracts represents a minor uptick from the 2026 low of +7,211 contracts set on September 18, but sits significantly below the 2026 peak of +21,951 contracts net long recorded on April 17, 2026 (28,402 longs vs. 6,451 shorts). Speculative gross length accounted for 26.2% of total open interest, hovering near the bottom of its historical range for the year (which peaked at 44.3% in early May).
  • Swap Dealers: Net long exposure stands at +6,053 contracts, retreating from peak net length of +7,799 contracts established on August 28, 2026.
  • Producer/Merchants: Net short exposure of -1,827 contracts remains modest compared to early 2026 levels, when producer net short positioning frequently exceeded -6,000 to -8,000 contracts (e.g., -8,675 contracts on February 20, 2026).

Flows and week-over-week changes

  • Managed Money Flows: Speculators added 467 long contracts and covered 327 short contracts, while expanding spreading positions by 924 contracts. This generated a net weekly bullish shift of +794 contracts.
  • Swap Dealer Flows: Dealers saw the sharpest net reduction among reportable categories, cutting 1,337 long contracts while adding 145 short contracts and trimming spreading by 236 contracts, resulting in a net flow of -1,482 contracts.
  • Producer/Merchant Flows: Physical market participants added to both sides of the book almost evenly—adding 820 longs and 881 shorts—for a net weekly change of -61 contracts.
  • Other Reportables & Nonreportables: Other reportable participants expanded their heavy net short bias by shedding 282 longs and adding 1,118 shorts. In contrast, nonreportable (retail/small) traders flipped from net short (-1,916) to net long (+233), driven by +981 longs and -1,168 shorts.

Commercials vs speculators

Managed Money Net:      [==========+8,005==========] (Long Bias)
Swap Dealers Net:       [=======+6,053=======]       (Long Bias)
Producer/Merchant Net:  [== -1,827 ==]               (Modest Short Bias)
Other Reportables Net:  [================ -12,464 ================] (Heavy Short Bias)
  • Speculative Conviction: Managed Money continues to hold an aggregate net long stance, but gross participation remains subdued relative to the heavy bull positioning maintained between January and May 2026.
  • Commercial Balance: Producer/merchants remain lightly hedged on a net basis (-1,827 contracts), holding only 15.6% of total short open interest. The bulk of short open interest is currently absorbed by Other Reportables (22.8% of OI) and Nonreportables (16.7% of OI).
  • Swap Activity: Swap dealers remain predominantly one-sided on the long side (10.8% of total OI vs. 1.0% on the short side), though this week's gross long liquidation reflects reduced intermediary or index-swaps allocation.

Open interest and participation

  • Total Open Interest: Stood at 61,983 contracts, up 2,350 contracts (+3.94%) week-over-week from 59,633 contracts. Despite the gain, open interest remains well below the 2026 high of 79,277 contracts seen on February 6.
  • Trader Breadth: Total active reporting entities increased by 15 to 224 traders (up from 209 traders the previous week).
    • Managed Money participant count: 40 longs, 26 shorts, and 33 spreaders.
    • Producer/Merchant participant count: 48 longs and 53 shorts.
  • Market Concentration:
    • The 4 largest traders controlled 12.2% of net long and 16.7% of net short positions (gross: 15.2% long, 18.6% short).
    • The 8 largest traders controlled 19.3% of net long and 25.1% of net short positions (gross: 25.8% long, 28.8% short).
    • Concentration remains balanced with no single cluster showing anomalous dominance.

Price context

Note: Price series quotes were not provided in the dataset for this reporting window; cross-sectional price momentum and basis comparisons cannot be evaluated directly against position changes.

Risks and watchpoints

  1. Speculative Positioning Base: With Managed Money net length sitting near multi-month lows (~8k contracts vs. >20k in spring), speculative long-liquidation risk is significantly reduced compared to Q1/Q2 2026. However, any sudden bearish catalyst could test the conviction of the remaining 16,242 gross long contracts.
  2. Swap Dealer Outflows: The liquidation of 1,337 Swap Dealer long contracts warrants monitoring to see whether passive index-related investment is beginning a broader rotation out of feeder cattle.
  3. Short Rebuilding in Other Reportables: Other Reportables hold an outsized short position (14,147 contracts; 22.8% of OI). Any squeeze higher could trigger covering from this segment, amplifying upward momentum if combined with renewed Managed Money long additions.