GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a mixed day for the livestock complex as the lean hog market saw little attention, but the cattle complex was driven sharply lower by fear as traders didn't know what to expect of Ag Sectary Brooke Rollins announcement on efforts to help the beef industry. Still no sizeable volumes have traded in the fed cash cattle market. December corn is up 3 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $3.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 334.33 points and NASDAQ is down 213.27 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was another "hold your breath and wait" kind of day for the cattle complex as traders were queasy as they tried to patiently wait to see what US Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins was going to announce this afternoon. You can read her plan to fortify the American Beef Industry here:
At the time of this writing, I haven't had enough time to spend carefully reading each point, but under the section, "Protect and Promote American Beef Through Transparent Labeling" sounded a lot like COOL (Country of Original Labeling) in my mind, as the PDF read, "Only products that have been born, raised and slaughtered in the United States will be eligible to make U.S.-origin labeling claims, ensuring any premiums derived from those claims only benefit producers and processors utilizing American beef."
The market, traders, producers, and everyone in between need more time to process this announcement before it can be soberly absorbed. But in the time leading up to the announcements, the cattle complex again plummeted lower as traders were fearful of what may lie in the unknown. December live cattle closed $5.60 lower at $239.82, February live cattle closed $5.90 lower at $240.37 and April live cattle closed $6.27 lower at $240.12. Some live cattle traded in the North at $239 to $240, but not enough cattle traded to say that any sort of trend was established. Still, asking prices remain elusive.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 118,000 head, 4,000 head less than a week ago and 6,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $1.28 ($370.65) and select up $1.04 ($353.61) with a movement of 153 loads (112.03 loads of choice, 24.05 loads of select, 7.03 loads of trim and 9.94 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady/somewhat higher. Given that supplies are only going to tighten in the months to come, packers will again need to be aggressive in this week's market to avoid being short bought.
FEEDER CATTLE:
With the market anxious and overly flowing with fear ahead of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollin's announcement this afternoon, the feeder cattle complex was dropped on its head as traders again let the market close limit lower. November feeders closed $9.25 lower at $364.22, January feeders closed $9.25 lower at $361.02 and March feeders closed $9.25 lower at $358.42. At Philip Livestock Auction in Philip, South Dakota, compared to last week, feeder steers under 600 pounds traded $10.00 to $15.00 lower, steers weighing 600 to 700 pounds sold $8.00 to $12.00 stronger. Feeder heifers weighing 400 to 450 pounds traded $10.00 to $12.00 lower, heifers weighing 450 to 550 pounds sold $5.00 to $10.00 lower, heifers weighing 550 to 600 pounds sold $10.00 to $15.00 lower and those weighing 950 to 1,000 pounds traded steady. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 29%. The CME feeder cattle index 10/21/2025: down $0.99, $372.00.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex traded without much action throughout Wednesday's hours, with the nearby contracts drifting lower while the deferred contracts saw a little more support. December lean hogs closed $0.87 lower at $82.40, February lean hogs closed $0.52 lower at $85.22 and April lean hogs closed $0.25 lower at $89.75. Unfortunately, the conversation remains the same as traders simply don't have enough support in the present to confidently push the contracts any higher. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $1.36 with a weighted average price of $88.16 on 9,086 head. Pork cutouts total 308.93 loads with 270.09 loads of pork cuts and 38.84 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.84, $99.75. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 493,000 head, 1,000 head more than a week ago and 8,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 10/20/2025: down $0.60, $94.98.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. At this point, packers have likely bought most of what they're going to buy this week.
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