GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mixed into midday Thursday, as the hog complex continues to be met with technical support, but the cattle complex would ideally like to see some support develop from the fed cash cattle market. Still no cattle have traded. March corn is down 2 3/4 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is up $0.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 262.93 points and the NASDAQ is down 64.03 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading mixed into midday Thursday, as the market is currently seeing its nearby contracts trading higher while the deferred months scale lower. It would appear as though the nearby contracts are trading higher, although no trade has developed yet in the fed cash cattle market, as traders know that supplies of market-ready cattle are going to be thin through the first quarter and potentially partway through the second quarter, which may be part of the reason why the February through June contracts are higher. February live cattle are up $0.47 at $247.07, April live cattle are up $0.52 at $243.05 and June live cattle are up $0.17 at $238.60. Absolutely nothing has developed yet in the fed cash cattle market, and there's a chance that trade could be delayed until after Friday's Cattle on Feed report.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.30 ($365.10) and select up $0.05 ($360.68) with a movement of 54 loads (36.97 loads of choice, 9.47 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 7.16 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle contracts aren't as bullish this morning as traders yearn to see continued fundamental support before they'll likely push the contracts much higher. March feeders are down $0.22 at $370.35, April feeders are down $0.10 at $367.90 and May feeders are down $0.07 at $364.15. And another part of the market's cautiousness could be stemming from the fact that traders are holding a slightly more cautious position ahead of the Cattle on Feed report.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is trading mostly higher into Thursday's noon hour as once again, trades aren't feeling pressured by any resistance thresholds following the past week's sharp downturn. April lean hogs are up $0.70 at $93.25, June lean hogs are up $0.45 at $107.10 and July lean hogs are up $0.37 at $108.87. Pork cutout values are up slightly, but not enough to make any impactful difference for traders.
The projected lean hog index for 2/18/2026 is up $0.40 at $87.59 and the actual index for 2/17/2026 is up $0.05 at $87.19. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. The only thing we can note from the report is that 3,665 head have traded this morning. Pork cutouts total 178.19 loads with 163.95 loads of pork cuts and 14.24 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.54, $96.10.
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