GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is mixed as the market continues to yearn to see stronger fundamental support. A single bid is on the table in Kansas but otherwise no new developments have surfaced in the cash cattle market following Wednesday's trade. May corn is up 3 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $4.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 505.44 points and NASDAQ is down 297.95 points.
Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 25,400 metric tons (mt) for 2026 -- a marketing year high -- were up noticeably from the previous week and up 87% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were South Korea (11,600 mt), Japan (5,900 mt) and Hong Kong (3,200 mt). Pork net sales of 23,700 mt for 2026 -- a marketing year low -- were down 34% from the previous week and 30% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (5,200 mt), Japan (3,700 mt) and China (2,900 mt).
LIVE CATTLE:
Following Wednesday's lower close, the live cattle complex is back to trading mildly higher. It's not because of an uptick in fundamental support -- but rather that some light technical support has worked its way into the market and is helping drive the contracts up into Thursday's noon hour. The other supportive factor that might be adding a slight boost to the market was the marketing year high of 25,400 metric tons of beef sold in Thursday morning's export report. April live cattle are up $1.12 at $231.27, June live cattle are up $1.37 at $229.45 and August live cattle are up $1.17 at $227.35. A single bid is on the table in Kansas at $235 but otherwise no new cash cattle trade has developed following Wednesday's business.
Wednesday asking prices were around $236 in the South and $374 in the North. Light trade was reported in Nebraska and Iowa with dressed deals marked at mostly $372, $8 lower than last week's weighted averages. Light scattered business took place in the South at $235 to $236, $3 lower in Texas, and $5 lower in Kansas.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.45 ($398.15) and select up $3.33 ($392.58) with a movement of 83 loads (63.84 loads of choice, 6.07 loads of select, 7.26 loads of trim and 6.09 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Meanwhile the feeder cattle complex is trading mixed into Thursday's noon hour as it isn't as confident at this time as the live cattle complex. March feeders are down $0.35 at $348.57, April feeders are down $0.37 at $342.95 and May feeders are down $0.02 at $339.80. The market continues to hover around its 100-day moving average, which could be a difficult threshold to boldly move past until some of the market's pressure resolves and its fundamentals improve.
LEAN HOGS:
Once again the lean hog complex is trailing lower as the market's resistance simply is too much for traders to bear at this point. April lean hogs are down $0.80 at $94.40, June lean hogs are down $1.60 at $107.65 and July lean hogs are down $1.72 at $109.57. While pork cutout values may be mildly higher, the market doesn't seem to be seeing that as a wildly supportive gesture as it not only wants to see higher prices but also consistency.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index is delayed from the source. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, down $0.89 with a weighted average price of $92.16, ranging from $88.00 to $94.00 on 830 head and a five-day rolling average of $92.66. Pork cutouts totaled 124.69 loads with 112.38 loads of pork cuts and 12.31 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.24, $98.65.
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