GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mixed into midday Wednesday as the cattle contracts are currently trading in an indecisive manner, but the lean hog contracts are trending higher. Some more cash cattle trade has been noted in Texas at $256 which is $10.00 higher than last week's weighted average. July corn is up 1 cent per bushel and July soybean meal is down $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 344.57 points and the NASDAQ is down 121.00 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It's been a back-and-forth morning for the live cattle complex as traders desire to push the contracts higher. However, following Tuesday's successful close and higher rally in the cash market, traders are somewhat holding their breath. June live cattle are up $0.80 at $254.30, August live cattle are down $0.15 at $248.95 and October live cattle are down $0.47 at $243.57. A few more deals have been marked in Texas at $256, which is a whopping $10.00 higher than last week's weighted average. At yesterday afternoon's close, prices were mostly being reported at $395 to $396 in Nebraska and Iowa. However, after the mandatory cutout time, price sources were reporting prices as high as $400 which is $14.00 higher than last week's weighted average. But do note that a large percentage of those sales were marked for delivery for the week of 5/11/2026. Southern live cattle were reported at $250 to $252 at the cutoff time, but later sales jumped as high as $255, which is $9.00 higher than last week's weighted average.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.94 ($387.96) and select down $0.94 ($387.84) with a movement of 70 loads (47.11 loads of choice, 6.52 loads of select, 7.33 loads of trim and 8.91 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is also having a challenging day as the market appears to desire to trade higher but following Tuesday's sharp rally. Upon seeing mixed signals in the live cattle complex, traders are being cautious at this point. May feeders are down $1.40 at $270.32, August feeders are down $1.82 at $371.25 and September feeders are down $1.55 at $369.70. If the market is to trade any higher, it will look for the technical support of the live cattle complex.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex continues to trade in a back-and-forth manner, but at least today the market is trading higher into midday. June lean hogs are up $1.65 at $103.62, July lean hogs are up $1.85 at $106.25 and August lean hogs are up $1.72 at $106.55. Today's technical bounce is somewhat surprising given that pork demand has been choppy, and prices are lower at the midday point.
The projected lean hog index for 4/28/2026 is up $0.12 at $91.31, and the actual index for 4/27/2026 is down $0.07 at $91.19. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.62 with a weighted average price of $92.87, ranging from $87.00 to $96.00 on 3,585 head and a five-day rolling average of $91.91. Pork cutouts total 182.26 loads with 154.01 loads of pork cuts and 28.25 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.08, $98.18.
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