GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading lower into Thursday's noon hour as the market simply doesn't possess the support it needs to trade higher. Again, a single bid is being offered in Nebraska, but no cattle have traded. May corn is up 3 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $12.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 353.91 points and NASDAQ is down 166.87 points.
Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 3,200 metric tons (mt) for 2026 -- a marketing year low -- were down 87% from the previous week and 80% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Japan (3,800 mt), Hong Kong (1,600 mt) and Taiwan (800 mt). Pork net sales of 28,300 mt for 2026 were up 19% from the previous week and down 13% from the 4-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (7,500 mt), South Korea (5,700 mt) and China (3,500 mt).
LIVE CATTLE:
Without any sizeable fundamental support having developed, the live cattle complex continues to trade lower. Traders have also noted the slight downturn in boxed beef prices -- which is likely stemming from pushback from retailers as they understand that the U.S. beef cowherd is low and prices are naturally going to creep higher as supplies are lower and demand is high. It's a balancing act that packers are going to have to manage when it comes to pricing the meat as they don't want to hinder demand. April live cattle are down $1.72 at $233.67, June live cattle are down $1.77 at $232.20 and August live cattle are down $1.72 at $229.87. Still no cash cattle trade has developed although bids have been offered in Nebraska. At this point it's looking like the bulk of this week's trade could be delayed until after Friday's Cattle on Feed report.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.33 ($400.42) and select down $2.49 ($393.68) with a movement of 47 loads (28.38 loads of choice, 3.53 loads of select, 6.77 loads of trim and 8.80 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
And once again the feeder cattle complex is following the live cattle contract's direction as it too is trading lower. That's not to say that demand has been strong for feeders in the countryside because demand has seen an uptick this past week; but instead this is a technical decision as traders don't want to move in the opposite direction against the live cattle contracts and its trend. March feeders are down $2.22 at $356.50, April feeders are down $4.82 at $349.00 and May feeders are down $5.45 at $344.42.
LEAN HOGS:
With cash volumes low and pork demand softening, it comes as no real surprise that the lean hog complex is trading lower. April lean hogs are down $0.92 at $92.82, June lean hogs are down $2.10 at $105.42 and July lean hogs are down $1.97 at $107.70. It's not likely the market is going to find the level of support it needs ahead of the week's end, and will likely keep with this sideways to slightly lower trend through Friday's close.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/18/2026 is up $0.11 at $92.04, and the actual index for 3/17/2026 is up $0.07 at $91.93. Hog prices are again unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see only 855 head have traded this morning and the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $91.26. Pork cutouts total 158.29 loads with 136.17 loads of pork cuts and 22.12 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.05, $98.77.
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