Cattle are the most popular domesticated livestock in the world. They are kept for their meat, milk and other dairy products or as working animals for pulling carts and plows. Cattle hides are also being used to make shoes and bags.

There are two main types of cattle, namely feeder cattle and live cattle.

Feeder cattle are young cattle that feed on hay or graze on pastures. They typically weigh between 600 to 800 pounds.

Live cattle are larger cattle that are kept in feedlots and are being fed higher concentration of ration that include corn, wheat and grain.

They are slaughtered and sold in the futures markets once the adult cattle reached 1200 to 1300 pounds. Major cattle producing states are Arizona, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Texas.

Live cattle futures are traded on CME Group. The standard trading unit is 40,000 pounds of particular grades of cattle physically delivered to designated points in the United States. Available contract months are February, April, June, August, October and December.