GENERAL COMMENTS:
With the weakness seen in the equity markets, the livestock contracts closed the day lower as traders were skeptical to support the complex with some external pressure looming. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day, but asking prices in the south are now noted at $242 to $244. December corn is down 2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $1.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 171.50 points and the NASDAQ is down 75.61 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex traded lower all throughout the day as traders were reluctant to support the live cattle complex amid a time in which the equity markets were trending lower. October live cattle closed $1.55 lower at $234.05, December live cattle closed $1.92 lower at $236.82 and February live cattle closed $2.15 lower at $238.97. Some of the market's decisions to trade lower also stemmed from the fact that traders were up against resistance in many of the contracts, and while the market's long-term outlook is bullish, one cannot deny that here today, boxed beef prices again traded lower and that there's a chance that fed cash cattle prices trade lower this week as well. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day. Asking prices are noted in the South at $242 to $244, but are still not known in the North.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 120,000 head, 3,000 head less than a week ago and steady with a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $3.41 ($377.39) and select down $3.48 ($356.42) with a movement of 188 loads (100.83 loads of choice, 43.48 loads of select, 17.94 loads of trim and 25.48 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Packers will again try to get cattle bought cheaper this week, but feedlot managers will try to keep prices steady.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Following in the same manner as the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts also rounded out the day lower. October feeders closed $2.50 lower at $359.62, November feeders closed $2.95 lower at $357.80 and January feeders closed $3.77 lower at $351.35. Again, in today's lower trend, like noted earlier this week, just as the furthest deferred contracts saw the biggest day-over-day gains then, the deferred contracts also saw the biggest losses this afternoon. Thankfully, today's weaker action had little effect on the sales in the countryside. At the Winter Livestock Auction in Dodge City, Kansas, compared to last week, 800-weight steers sold $18.00 higher and heifers over 600 pounds traded $6.00 higher. Steers under 600 pounds sold $7.00 to $9.00 higher. Heifers under 600 pounds traded $5.00 higher. Larger lots of vaccinated calves traded as much as $20.00 to $30.00 stronger. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 71%. The CME feeder cattle index 9/23/2025: up $0.20, $361.31.
LEAN HOGS:
Tumbling lower throughout the entire day, the lean hog contracts gave back all the position that Tuesday's market successfully conquered. October lean hogs are down $1.10 at $99.42, December lean hogs are down $2.60 at $88.12 and February lean hogs are down $2.30 at $89.62. And without the help of strong fundamentals, traders stood little chance of keeping the contracts elected throughout the day with the external pressures that arose. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $2.32 with a weighted average price of $104.67 on 6,633 head. Pork cutouts totaled 337.89 loads with 288.49 loads of pork cuts and 49.40 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.05, $111.63. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 489,000 head, 3,000 head more than a week ago and 5,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 9/23/2025: down $0.08, $104.90. The Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report will be shared tomorrow afternoon.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. At this point, it's likely that packers have purchased the bulk of their needs already in the cash market.
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