The global population of cattle far outnumbers 1 billion heads. In many countries, especially in Africa, raising many cattle still means having a good wealth. The majority of feeder cattle are bred in summer, in order to ensure that the calves are born during spring to have good weather conditions and enough pasture to feed on. Feeder cattle should be from 1 to 2 years old and reach a weight of 600-800 pounds to be sent to the feedlot and then to slaughter. The US only exports more than 2 billion beef pounds annually. Feeder cattle futures provide traders with the opportunity to enter the all-encompassing market, including price demand for cattle themselves and for feed grain. Feeder cattle prices are set and traded on the CME Globex under the ticker symbol GF. The contract size is 50,000 pounds (23 metric tonnes).
Undated commodities are subject to a Daily Premium Adjustment, that reflects one day's movement between the first and second futures contract.