GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex kept its mixed tone through Thursday's close as the lean hog complex ended slightly higher while the cattle contracts closed a tick lower. Still no cash cattle trade has developed. March corn is up 2 1/4 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is up $4.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 306.78 points and NASDAQ is up 211.20 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was a quiet day of waiting as the market merely sat idle, trading along both sides of steady seeming to wait for trade to develop in the fed cash cattle market. A single bid of $232 was offered in Nebraska, but no cattle traded. It's most likely cattle will wait to trade until after Friday's Cattle on Feed report is unveiled. February live cattle closed $0.72 lower at $232.37, April live cattle closed $0.12 lower at $234.82 and June live cattle closed $0.02 higher at $230.90. As a side note, the market continues to hover over its 100-day moving average, which will be a threshold the market needs to continue to monitor moving forward as a close below that price point would signal a downward trend.
Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 114,000 head -- 3,000 head less than a week ago and 9,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice up $1.34 ($367.45) and select down $0.72 ($361.73) with a movement of 95 loads (62.91 loads of choice, 9.40 loads of select, 3.81 loads of trim and 19.16 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. With the market's tone being lackadaisical this week, the expectation that prices will trade higher may not come to fruition. Yes, supplies of market-ready cattle are still low, and there's still that chance, but prices could also just be steady.
FEEDER CATTLE:
And once again, keeping in alignment with the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts also closed mixed with the nearby contracts ending mostly lower while the deferred contracts closed slightly higher. March feeders closed $0.10 lower at $359.27, April feeders closed $0.17 lower at $357.95 and May feeders closed $0.10 lower at $355.47. On Friday the monthly Cattle on Feed report will be released, but it's not expected to yield anything wild -- placements should be lower than a year ago. At Torrington Livestock Auction in Torrington, Wyoming, compared to last week feeder steers and heifers traded $5.00 to $9.00 lower with instances of $13.00 lower. The sale report did note that there weren't as many buyers in the crowd this week and online activity was lower too. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 58%. The CME Feeder Cattle Index 1/21/2026: down $0.27, $367.41.
LEAN HOGS:
It was another rallying day for the lean hog complex as the market closed slightly higher -- fueled by strong consumer support and more than sufficient trader interest. February lean hogs closed $0.62 higher at $88.47, April lean hogs closed $0.75 higher at $96.35 and June lean hogs closed $0.45 higher at $108.62. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $2.04 with a weighted average price of $83.09 on 591 head. Pork cutouts totaled 231.28 loads with 206.78 loads of pork cuts and 24.49 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.64, $94.62. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 490,000 -- 2,000 head less than a week ago and 27,000 head more than a year ago. The CME Lean Hog Index 1/20/2026: up $0.37, $82.40.
FRIDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. It's likely packers are essentially done buying in this week's cash hog market.
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