GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex ended the day mixed with the cattle contracts unwilling to do anything but trade lower, meanwhile the lean hog complex finally came into some support. July corn is down 1 cent per bushel and July soybean meal is up $1.60. A light trade was noted in the North at $402 which is $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average and some Southern live cattle traded at $256 to $257 which is $2.00 to $3.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 313.62 points and the NASDAQ is down 32.74 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was simply one of those days. One of those days where you feel as though the market is broke because as one side of the complex heads higher, the other jumps ship and heads lower, as if the market's technical and fundamental facets aren't tied together at all. And that's exactly what happened throughout the cattle complex today as both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts closed lower amid a find jump in the fed cash cattle complex. At the day's open the live cattle contracts plummeted, and traders were hell-bent on keeping the contracts lower from there on out, regardless of what developed in the cash market. June live cattle closed $3.42 lower at $250.05, August live cattle closed $3.00 lower at $245.90 and October live cattle closed $3.75 lower at $239.97. Meanwhile, a light trade was noted in the North at $402 which is $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average and some Southern live cattle traded at $256 to $257 which is $2.00 to $3.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average.
Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 109,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago and 12,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $2.68 ($386.94) and select down $5.21 ($384.42) with a movement of 107 loads (70.96 loads of choice, 4.82 loads of select, 24.48 loads of trim and 6.79 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that trade has now developed in both regions it's likely that the week's weighted averages are set.
FEEDER CATTLE:
And as the market has consistently done in recent weeks, the feeder cattle contracts followed the live cattle market lower through Thursday's end. May feeders closed $6.07 lower at $366.32, August feeders closed $6.87 lower at $366.17 and September feeders closed $6.65 lower at $364.65. At the Winter Livestock Auction in Dodge City, Kansas, compared to their last sale two weeks ago, steers over 750 pounds traded steady to $10.00 higher and steers weighing 550 to 750 pounds sold steady to $15.00 higher. Heifers weighing 500 to 650 pounds sold $10.00 lower to $10.00 higher, but heifers over 650 pounds weren't well tested. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 51%. The CME feeder cattle index 5/6/2026: down $2.90, $372.29.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex kept with its mixed trend as the nearby contracts ended the day slightly lower, but the vast majority of the deferred contracts ended the day on a higher note. June lean hogs closed $0.32 lower at $99.37, July lean hogs closed $0.70 higher at $102.95 and August lean hogs closed $0.80 higher at $104.10. Pork demand was a tick stronger throughout the day, which could have partially given traders some of the support they needed to trade the contracts higher. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $3.89 with a weighted average price of $90.70 on 513 head. Pork cutouts total 278.36 loads with 249.02 loads of pork cuts and 29.34 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.05, $95.60. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 484,000 head, 5,000 head more than a week ago and 4,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 5/5/2026: up $0.09, $91.19.
FRIDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. At this point, packers have likely bought all the cash hogs they're going to buy for the week.
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