Thursday Midday Livestock Market Update - Traders Let Contracts Run Higher

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading higher into midday Thursday as the market desires to run higher and is seeing some positive fundamental support, which is allowing the contracts to do so. No cash cattle trade has developed. March corn is down 1 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $2.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 368.18 points and the NASDAQ is up 189.14 points.

Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 11,200 mt for 2026 were primarily for South Korea (3,800 mt), Japan (2,000 mt) and Mexico (1,700 mt). Pork net sales of 26,800 mt for 2026 were primarily for Mexico (9,200 mt), Japan (5,200 mt) and South Korea (4,100 mt).

LIVE CATTLE:

The live cattle complex is back to trade higher following Wednesday's lower close, as once again the contracts are no longer up against immediate pressure. February live cattle are up $0.50 at $235.65, April live cattle are up $0.77 at $238.10 and June live cattle are up $1.20 at $233.52. It's very apparent that the market desires to trade higher, but until traders can see immediate fundamental support in the form of stronger fed cash cattle trade, it's unlikely that they'll boldly advance the market until then. At this point, both bids and asking prices remain elusive.

Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.91 ($360.44) and select up $2.28 ($359.93) with a movement of 99 loads (78.80 loads of choice, 5.89 loads of select, 7.82 loads of trim and 6.15 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The live cattle contracts may be mildly trading higher, but the feeder cattle contracts are inching closer to midday Thursday with more vigor as most of the contracts are trading over $3.00 higher. January feeders are up $2.75 at $367.50, March feeders are up $3.45 at $363.15 and April feeders are up $3.47 at $361.65. The market is currently pushing up against resistance pressure, which could cause the market some anxiety later this afternoon.

LEAN HOGS:

With pork cutout values up sharply, the lean hog complex is having a breakout day. February lean hogs are up $1.80 at $87.50, April lean hogs are up $2.10 at $94.80 and June lean hogs are up $1.45 at $106.72. So long as fundamental support remains evident this afternoon, it's likely that traders will continue to push the contracts higher as they've been patiently waiting for this amount of fundamental support to develop so that they can charge the market higher.

The projected lean hog index is delayed from the source. Hog prices are again unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 150 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $68.56. Pork cutouts total 119.32 loads with 102.24 loads of pork cuts and 17.08 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.96, $93.25.