Monday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Traders Drive Cattle Contracts Higher

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading mostly higher into Monday's noon hour as traders again seem committed to advancing the contracts higher. New showlists appear to be somewhat lower in Nebraska/Colorado and much lower in Kansas and Texas. May corn is down 4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $1.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 601.09 points and NASDAQ is up 248.66 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

The live cattle complex is trading mostly higher into Monday's noon hour, although a couple of the late 2026 contracts are trading slightly lower. More than anything, it's likely the note of steady on-feed numbers has traders concerned there may be more supply available in the later part of 2026 than originally anticipated, which could be partly driving down those contracts Monday morning. April live cattle are up $0.17 at $234.22, June live cattle are up $0.25 at $233.67 and August live cattle are up $0.02 at $230.85. It's likely the market will continue to chop sideways between its 100-day and 40-day moving averages until something drives the market one way or another. New showlists appear to be somewhat lower in Nebraska/Colorado and much lower in Kansas and Texas.

Last week, Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $372, which is steady with the previous week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle traded at mostly $235, which is also steady with the previous week's weighted average.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.61 ($399.50) and select up $0.62 ($393.56) with a movement of 35 loads (25.11 loads of choice, 4.00 loads of select, 3.00 loads of trim and 2.84 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Friday's Cattle on Feed report hasn't added much of a hiccup to Monday's market as the feeder cattle contracts are also trading higher. March feeders are up $1.17 at $358.92, April feeders are up $0.20 at $351.37 and May feeders are up $0.87 at $347.25. Demand was stronger last week in sale barns across the countryside as green grass is just around the corner for most producers, and that was evident in sales as grass calves were bringing more money. It's likely that trend will continue this week, especially if the board remains encouraging.

LEAN HOGS:

After plummeting lower late last week, the lean hog complex is now trading mixed into Monday's noon hour with its nearby contracts mostly higher while the deferred contracts continue to scale lower. April lean hogs are down $0.37 at $90.90, June lean hogs are up $0.17 at $104.65 and July lean hogs are up $0.07 at $106.77. In order for the nearby contracts to continue to trade higher this week, it will be imperative that pork demand improves. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/20/2026 is down $0.18 at $91.77 and the actual index for 3/19/2026 is down $0.09 at $91.95. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 738 head have traded and the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $91.94. Pork cutouts total 180.57 loads with 154.80 loads of pork cuts and 25.77 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.80, $100.00.