GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex closed mixed again, with cattle contracts ending the day stronger, while hog contracts weakened. Still no cash cattle trade developed, and no bids surfaced throughout the day. May corn is down 1 3/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1,325.46 points and the NASDAQ is up 617.15 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Traders remain hopeful that later this week the market's fundamentals will prevail and that the contracts will be given the green light to trade higher once again. April live cattle closed $0.80 higher at $249.00, June live cattle closed $0.12 higher at $245.92 and August live cattle closed $0.05 higher at $242.42. Before the market will likely challenge the resistance that it's currently trading at, more fundamental support will need to develop. At this point, no cash cattle trade has developed, and it may take until the week's bitter end for trade to get underway truly. Asking prices are noted at $250 plus in the South, but otherwise, the market is silent.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 109,000 head, 2,000 head more than a week ago and 13,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $3.08 ($379.66) and select down $4.06 ($382.27) with a movement of 122 loads (89.61 loads of choice, 8.88 loads of select, 11.73 loads of trim and 11.89 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady/somewhat lower. Given that packers were able to secure a sizeable volume of cattle last week, and with boxed beef prices trading lower, prices may simply hold steady if not trade a tick lower later this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex was also able to rally through the day's close as the market received more than enough support to do so successfully. April feeders closed $1.77 higher at $370.67, May feeders closed $1.37 higher at $368.00 and August feeders closed $1.90 higher at $367.95. But between the technical support of seeing the live cattle contracts trade higher, to the continued interest and demand in the countryside for feeders and calves, the feeder cattle complex saw ample support throughout the day. At Beaver Livestock Auction in Beaver, Oklahoma, compared to last week, feeder steers traded $2.00 to $5.00 higher, and feeder heifers sold steady to $5.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves sold $5.00 to $10.00 stronger. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 88%. The CME feeder cattle index 4/7/2026: down $0.04, $364.55.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex ended the day notably lower as the market simply came up short of any meaningful support, as, from a technical sense, traders weren't willing to support the complex, and with pork demand softening, the market didn't see the fundamental support it had hoped to either. April lean hogs closed $0.57 lower at $90.20, June lean hogs closed $2.40 lower at $104.65 and July lean hogs closed $2.40 lower at $104.65. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 2,095 head traded throughout the day and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $90.46. Pork cutouts totaled 298.52 loads with 263.89 loads of pork cuts and 34.63 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.91, $96.91. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 489,000 head, 3,000 more than a week and a year ago. The CME lean hog index 4/6/2026: up $0.13, $90.06.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. With pork demand soft this week, it's unlikely that packers will be very aggressive in the cash market.
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