GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex had a rather successful day as all three of the markets closed higher as traders eagerly jumped into the new week. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Nebraska/Colorado, about steady in Kansas, and lower in Texas. March corn is down 5 1/2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $3.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 32.26 points and the NASDAQ is up 31.71 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
What a day, what a day, what a day it was for the live cattle complex as support poured into the sector from both the market's fundamental and technical facets. With last week's strong performance in the fed cash cattle market, where prices traded $4.00 higher in both regions and the five-area weighted average was pushed to $245.62 (a new all time high for the fed cash cattle market) traders saw all the fundamental support they needed to push the contracts sharply higher from the day's get go and keep the market trading higher through the day's close. February live cattle closed $3.47 higher at $246.55, April live cattle closed $2.17 higher at $242.80 and June live cattle closed $2.30 higher at $238.45. And while someone may want to point to today's weaker close in boxed beef prices, do remember that February has historically been a tough month to sell beef, and by and large, even with prices as high as they are, consumers haven't weakened in their quest for more beef. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Nebraska/Colorado, about steady in Kansas, and lower in Texas.
Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 115,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago and 3,000 head less than a year ago.
Last week, Southern live cattle were marked at mostly $248, which is $4.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average and Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $382, which is also $4.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 59,651 head. Of that 95% (56,657 head) were committed to the market's nearby delivery, while the remaining 5% (2,994 head) were committed to the market's deferred delivery option.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $3.01 ($364.76) and select down $1.01 ($360.22) with a movement of 119 loads (94.68 loads of choice, 9.85 loads of select, 7.45 loads of trim and 7.49 loads of ground beef).
WEDNESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Higher. With fed cash cattle supplies so thin, prices will likely be even higher this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex had all the support it could hope for throughout the day as the market was pleased to note the uptick in the fed cash cattle complex, along with seeing the live cattle contracts trading higher, all of which collectively made it relatively easy for traders to push the contracts through the day's end. March feeders closed $4.82 higher at $370.97, April feeders closed $4.37 higher at $367.82 and May feeders closed $4.37 higher at $363.80. At the Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, compared to last week, feeder steers traded steady to $4.00 higher, and feeder heifers traded $5.00 to $10.00 higher. Steer calves sold mostly steady and heifer calves traded steady to $5.00 higher. It was noted in the sale report that buyers were a little more selective for type and kind, which logically makes sense when they are paying these types of prices. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 65%. The CME feeder cattle index 2/16/2026: up $0.99, $376.07.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex didn't receive unwavering, fundamental support throughout the day, as cash prices were a tick higher, but pork cutout values closed lower, which means that today's higher close in the futures complex stems from the fact that traders simply believe that the market has endured enough downward pressure for the time being. April lean hogs closed $1.02 higher at $92.30, June lean hogs closed $1.30 higher at $105.85 and July lean hogs closed $1.47 higher at $107.72. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $2.99 with a weighted average price of $88.23 on 2,460 head. Pork cutouts totaled 267.85 loads with 241.89 loads of pork cuts and 25.96 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.97, $95.88. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 493,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago and 15,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 2/13/2026: $0.13, $87.06.
WEDNESDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. Given that prices were slightly higher today, there's a chance that prices may scale slightly lower on Wednesday as packers haven't been overly aggressive in the cash market lately.
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