Monday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Mixed Tones Summarize Contracts at Week's Start

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is mixed at Monday's noon hour as the contracts are looking for direction. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas, but lower in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado. December corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and December soybean meal is up $1.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 43.56 points and NASDAQ is up 129.30 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

The live cattle complex is continuing to trade lower as the market looks around for reassuring support; but it isn't seeing much rise on Monday. October live cattle are down $0.35 at $231.45, December live cattle are down $0.45 at $233.85 and February live cattle are down $0.32 at $236.17. Thankfully (for the meantime) the spot December contract is remaining above the market's 40-day moving average, but the market seems to teeter at that threshold as traders aren't confident in which way the market should trade. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas, but lower in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado.

Last week Northern dressed cattle traded at $365 to $369, but mostly at $365, which is $6.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average and Southern live cattle traded at mostly $237, which is $3.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.94 ($373.37) and select down $2.90 ($349.54) with a movement of 49 loads (20.87 loads of choice, 10.04 loads of select, 8.85 loads of trim and 9.42 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex is mixed into Monday's noon hour as the market is unsettled seeing the live cattle contracts trade lower,; but some of the furthest deferred months are still trading higher. More than anything the futures complex seems to be held at a mere standstill, looking for support to develop, or waiting for more pressure to build to send the contracts one way or another. From the boots on the ground perspective, demand should remain strong for feeder cattle as supplies aren't going to become ample anytime soon. October feeders are down $0.65 at $356.35, November feeders are down $0.45 at $354.02 and January feeders are down $0.30 at $347.52.

LEAN HOGS:

Like the cattle complex, the lean hog market is mixed into Monday's noon hour. But following the big surge the lean hog market saw on Friday, it's quite commendable that the contracts that are trading lower are just doing so in a mild matter as traders could have panicked at Monday's start and opted to give back most of what Friday's trade secured. October lean hogs are down $0.42 at $101.07, December lean hogs are down $0.30 at $90.75 and February lean hogs are up $0.02 at $92.20.

The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 9/26/2025 is down $0.05 at $104.78 and the actual index for 9/25/2025 is down $0.23 at $104.83. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $2.34 with a weighted average price of $101.86, ranging from $99.00 to $104.00 on 3,020 head and a five-day rolling average of $104.56. Pork cutouts total 156.78 loads with 130.12 loads of pork cuts and 26.66 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.58, $114.10.