Tuesday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Cattle Complex Lower as Fears About the Border Linger

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading fully lower into midday Tuesday as a lack of fundamental support in the hog sector and continued concerns about the border are weakening the cattle complex. Still no trade has developed in the fed cash cattle market. December corn is down 4 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 217.00 points and the NASDAQ is down 352.27 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

The cattle complex is back to trading lower, despite Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins saying the U.S. is not ready for the border to reopen just yet; she's also mentioned in other interviews that President Trump is "very focused" on reopening the border. Although the industry knew that at some point the border was going to be reopened, the cat and mouse game of trying to pinpoint when that is going to happen has a negative impact on the market, as one can see this morning. December live cattle are down $4.05 at $228.15, February live cattle are down $4.47 at $226.05 and April live cattle are down $4.20 at $225.12. Unfortunately, this headline has once again pulled the spot December live cattle contract back below the market's 100-day moving average. Still no developments have surfaced in the fed cash cattle market, and no bids or asking prices have surfaced quite yet.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.61 ($377.64) and select up $3.17 ($363.10) with a movement of 107 loads (75.47 loads of choice, 11.51 loads of select, 6.71 loads of trim and 13.12 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex is taking the morning's rumors with the biggest hit as the market has successfully seen prices never reached before, largely because of limited supplies and excellent demand. Cattle producers and traders alike both know that allowing for Mexican cattle imports won't completely end the market's rally and historical prices, but the degree to which it will affect prices is unknown, and that's what scares the market. November feeders are down $6.85 at $335.72, January feeders are down $6.80 at $329.45 and March feeders are down $7.32 at $325.20.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog complex is again sinking lower, as traders are sickened to see demand simply not performing. December lean hogs are down $1.07 at $79.52, February lean hogs are down $1.42 at $80.77 and April lean hogs are down $1.17 at $84.97. If the market trades much lower, it commits to trading below the support place at $80.00 in the December contract. The next level of technical support can be found at around $70.00.

The projected lean hog index for 11/3/2025 is down $0.08 at $90.90, and the actual index for 10/31/2025 is down $0.21 at $90.98. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.66 with a weighted average price of $84.07, ranging from $80.00 to $87.00 on 3,600 head and a five-day rolling average of $83.90. Pork cutouts totaled 194.84 loads with 179.44 loads of pork cuts and 15.39 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.33, $99.32.