CME lists two beef trim futures: one for 90 percent lean trim and one for 50 percent lean. They started trading on July 20, 2026, with August 2026 as the first contract month. The 90s trade under the code BTN and the 50s under BTF. Each contract is 20,000 pounds, half a load. Prices move in steps of $0.0005 a pound, which is $10 a contract. There are options on both.
Why there are two
The 90s and the 50s are the two ends of a ground beef blend. A grinder mixes lean 90s with fat 50s in set weights to hit a spec such as 80/20. So a grinder buys both, and the two prices can move very differently. The 90s come mostly from cull cows and bulls, backed up by imported lean. The 50s are fed cattle trim. The lean trim ladder article covers where each rung comes from.
CME and the economists who covered the launch name the same users: processors, packers, importers and anyone else whose costs follow ground beef.
How they settle
Nothing is delivered. Both contracts settle in cash against USDA's own trim prices.
| 90% lean (BTN) | 50% lean (BTF) | |
|---|---|---|
| USDA reports | LM_XB450 and LM_XB460 | LM_XB454 and LM_XB460 |
| Price used | Fresh 90% trimmings | Fresh 50% trimmings |
| Last trading day | Last Friday of the month | Last Friday of the month |
| Final settlement | The following Tuesday | The following Tuesday |
| Averaging | That Friday's reports plus the three before | That Monday's and Friday's reports plus the three before |
In plain words: each contract settles on a weighted average of about the last four weeks of USDA's weekly trim prices. Those are weekly reports, not the daily LM_XB401 report our trim page shows, so the daily 90s and 50s will not match the settlement price to the cent. They are the same market, priced a different way.
The 50s move far more than the 90s
Averaged over four weeks, USDA's daily fresh 50s ranged from 89 to 190 cents a pound over the twelve months to October 2026. That is more than double from low to high. The 90s ranged from 395 to 461 cents, a move of about 17 percent.
The five-year record says the same. The 50s' four-week average has risen as much as 87 percent and fallen as much as 46 percent within about four weeks. The 90s' biggest such moves were a 16 percent rise and a 12 percent fall. The fat side of the blend is where the price swings are.
Trading terms
Both trade on CME Globex from 8:30 a.m. to 1:05 p.m. Central, Monday to Friday, and can be cleared through CME ClearPort as privately negotiated block trades. Twelve consecutive months are listed. From the close of the fifth business day of a contract month, one trader can hold at most 300 contracts of the 90s in that month, and 700 of the 50s.
Is anyone trading them
A futures contract is only useful if there is someone on the other side. These are new, and CME publishes their daily volume and open interest. Check both before counting on a hedge.