Friday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Traders Regain Their Focus

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The cattle complex has regained its footing following Thursday's disgruntled tailspin, which sent the contracts plummeting lower. But thankfully, by the fed cash cattle market's grace, and continued support of seeing higher sales, traders have regained their focus. A few deals have been noted in the South this morning, but no new dressed cattle sales have been reported. September corn is down 3 1/2 cents per bushel and August soybean meal is up $5.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 450.43 points and the NASDAQ is down 362.84 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Following Thursday's technical turbulence, the live cattle complex is back to trading higher as traders are pleased to see the fed cash cattle market trading higher. A light trade has been reported in Kansas at $236, which is $1.00 higher than Thursday's trade and $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average. A few deals have also been reported in Texas at $235, which is fully steady with Thursday's trade. Asking prices remain firm in the South at $236 plus and in the North at $384 plus. More trade will likely develop throughout the afternoon, and once again, feedlot managers have been rewarded for their patient willingness to trade cattle later in the week as packers have upped their bids. August live cattle are up $2.67 at $230.32, October live cattle are up $0.77 at $223.92 and December live cattle are up $0.70 at $224.70.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $2.83 ($364.15) and select down $0.77 ($340.60) with a movement of 43 loads (25.12 loads of choice, 6.28 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 11.59 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex is also trading higher as traders have regained their focus from sheer panic and chaos, to one that's clearer and more stable, and is fixated on the current thriving performance of the cattle complex. August feeders are up $2.77 at $334.15, September feeders are up $2.12 at $333.67 and October feeders are up $1.55 at $331.72. Even though the futures complex dived lower Thursday afternoon, that hasn't affected demand in the countryside whatsoever.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog complex is trading higher into Friday's noon hour as traders are pleased with the uptick in pork demand late this week and are also grateful for the stability found throughout the futures complex, as traders have seemed to establish a new bottom in the market for at least this current move. August lean hogs are up $0.12 at $107.25, October lean hogs are up $0.40 at $89.97 and December lean hogs are up $0.35 at $82.07. Given that packers were so aggressive in the market earlier this week, it's unlikely that they'll do much more buying this afternoon, as their needs are fulfilled in the cash sector.

The projected lean hog index for 7/31/2025 is down $0.11 at $110.26, and the actual index for 7/30/2025 is down $0.14 at $110.37. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $2.72 with a weighted average price of $109.10, ranging from $98.00 to $114.50 on 1,435 head and a five-day rolling average of $112.63. Pork cutouts total 212.55 loads with 190.79 loads of pork cuts and 21.76 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.44, $117.44.