It was an incredible week for the cattle complex as feeder cattle demand remains red hot, fed cash cattle prices jump higher, and traders were willing and ready to respond to the market's strong fundamentals. July corn is down 4 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 279.13 points and the NASDAQ is down 45.13 points.
From Thursday to Friday livestock futures scored the following changes: August live cattle up $8.15, October live cattle up $8.80; August feeder cattle up $15.83, September feeder cattle up $16.03; July lean hogs down $1.25, August lean hogs down $1.43; July corn down $0.29, and September corn down $0.24.
LIVE CATTLE:I don't believe many people would have thought the futures complex would have successfully advanced the way it did this week, and that fed cash cattle prices were going to trade $4.00 to $10.00 higher. But when the market is met with ample support from both traders and its fundamentals, we've learned through 2025 that the sky is truly the limit. Traders were supportive at the day's start, but once traders saw the fed cash cattle market trading higher, they grabbed another gear and confidently pushed the live cattle contracts $1.00 to mostly $2.00 higher through Friday's end. August live cattle closed $2.97 higher at $222.20, October live cattle closed $2.62 higher at $219.70 and December live cattle closed $2.32 higher at $219.57. Throughout the day, Northern dressed cattle traded at $380, which is $10.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Southern live cattle traded at $228 to $230, which is $4.00 to $6.00 higher than last week's weighted average.
Friday's slaughter is estimated at 101,000 head, incomparable to a week ago but 17,000 head less than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 3,000 head. The week's total slaughter is estimated to be 568,000 head, incomparable to last week but 36,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $6.02 ($378.64) and select down $4.37 ($366.49) with a movement of 138 loads (96.63 loads of choice, 16.20 loads of select, 11.52 loads of trim and 13.33 loads of ground beef).
MONDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. It will be imperative to see next Monday exactly how many cattle sold this past week, as that will likely indicate how aggressive packers will be in next week's market.
FEEDER CATTLE:It was truly a historic week for the feeder cattle complex as not only did the contracts trade higher throughout the week, but the market saw not only technical support but also fundamental support as the CME feeder cattle index broke above $323. As mentioned earlier, the contracts traded higher throughout the week, but upon seeing the fed cash cattle market trading higher, traders didn't bat an eye at aggressively pushing the feeder cattle contracts higher through Friday's end. August feeders closed $4.05 higher at $325.32, September feeders closed $4.17 higher at $325.40 and October feeders closed $4.07 higher at $323.20. The Oklahoma Weekly Cattle Auction Summary shared that compared to last week, feeder steers traded $5.00 to $10.00 higher, steer calves traded $10.00 to $15.00 higher, and feeder heifers and heifer calves sold $10.00 to $15.00 stronger. Slaughter cows sold steady to $4.00 higher, and slaughter bulls traded mostly $4.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 68%. The CME feeder cattle index 7/10/2025: up $1.53, $323.37.
LEAN HOGS:While the cattle complex had all the support it could ever wish for, the lean hog market wasn't as fortunate, as fundamentally, the market would have liked to see more demand, and traders simply never gained traction in the market. August lean hogs closed $1.55 lower at $104.67, October lean hogs closed $1.62 lower at $90.65 and December lean hogs closed $1.70 higher at $82.27. The carcass price stood a chance at closing higher as the butt jumped $9.04, but with the belly's $12.56 decline, that simply overpowered the carcass price's average. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $5.74 with a weighted average price of $106.69 on 1,714 head. Pork cutouts totaled 288.37 loads, with 265.05 loads of pork cuts and 23.32 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.68, $113.47. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 441,000 head – incomparable to last week but 7,000 head less than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 39,000 head. The CME lean hog index 7/9/2025: up $0.10, $107.14.
MONDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. With pork demand not being what packers had hoped for this week, it's highly unlikely that they will support the cash market on Monday.
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