Tuesday Closing Livestock Market Update - Cattle Rally as the Market's Bullishness Grows

GENERAL COMMENTS:

All in all, it was a supportive day for the livestock complex as most of the contracts closed higher. But the biggest gains were undoubtedly seen in the cattle complex, where the market's bullish undertone continues to grow stronger and stronger. March corn is down 1 3/4 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $6.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 490.19 points and the NASDAQ is down 93.57 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

The live cattle complex really showed its bullish undertone throughout Tuesday's trade as traders wasted no time rallying the live cattle contracts, as they remain optimistic about the year ahead and especially about the first quarter of 2026, and potentially the second quarter as well, as the industry knows that supplies are going to be tightest right now. February live cattle closed $2.00 higher at $237.25, April live cattle closed $2.90 higher at $238.97 and June live cattle closed $2.80 higher at $233.40. Today's advancement puts the market up against its resistance threshold, but if support remains plentiful, there's a chance that later this week the market could scale even higher, depending on how boxed beef prices trend and what the fed cash cattle market does. At this point, there's been no trade in the fed cash cattle market, but it's assumed that prices will be higher again this week. Asking prices and bids both remain elusive at this point, however. 

Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 118,000 head, steady with a week ago but 5,000 head less than a year ago.

Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice up $0.88 ($357.99) and select down $0.87 ($357.18) with a movement of 145 loads (102.19 loads of choice, 12.92 loads of select, 19.34 loads of trim and 10.92 loads of ground beef).

WEDNESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Higher. With more than enough bullish sentiment lingering in the marketplace, it's likely that feedlot managers will get cattle traded higher again this go around.

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex had a breakout day as the market was fueled by ample support, all pointing to a prosperous 2026, with the big overarching theme being: tight supplies through 2026. January feeders closed $4.22 higher at $366.27, March feeders closed $5.95 higher at $362.12 and April feeders closed $6.15 higher at $360.60. Beyond the obviously help of a stronger day in the live cattle complex and significant buyer demand in the countryside – the market was also given another bullish bone to chew on Monday as the USDA shared in the WASDE report that corn supplies are expected to be ample through 2026 which meant one big thing to feeders: that feed prices are going to remain affordable which really matters in this point in the cycle as the buy-in point for cattle is so expensive. At the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, compared to last week, feeder steers traded steady to $2.00 lower, but feeder heifers sold steady to $4.00 higher. Steer calves sold $8.00 to $12.00 higher and heifer calves traded mostly steady. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 62%. The CME feeder cattle index 1/12/2026: up $0.56, $269.12.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog complex was able to end the day with the vast majority of its contracts closing higher, although a couple of the furthest deferred contracts ended the day weaker. February lean hogs closed $0.20 higher at $84.62, April lean hogs closed $0.50 higher at $91.25 and June lean hogs closed $0.30 higher at $104.32. More than anything, today's slight bump likely stems from the technical fact that following the last two previous days' worth of trade, which both ended lower, the market was no longer up against immediate resistance pressure, which allowed traders to close the contracts slightly higher. Hog prices averaged $70.00 on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog report, with a total of 170 head trading and a five-day rolling average of $69.99. Pork cutouts totaled 371.66 loads with 338.80 loads of pork cuts and 32.86 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.30, $91.80. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 494,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago and 20,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 1/9/2026: down $0.15, $80.60.

WEDNESDAY'S HOG CALL: Higher. One would think that packers are short-supplied and need to buy more in the cash market.