GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex ended the day mixed as traders simply want to see greater fundamental support before they're overly aggressive in the marketplace. New showlists appear to be about steady in Nebraska/Colorado, somewhat higher in Texas, and higher in Kansas. December corn is up 16 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $9.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 155.84 points and the NASDAQ is up 288.49 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex ended the day just slightly stronger, as traders found a tick of technical support around the market's 100-day moving average. Now time will tell if that minimal support will be enough to hold the market steady, but if boxed beef demand and cash prices both trade lower throughout the week. Personally, I'm skeptical. August live cattle closed $0.12 lower at $239.10, October live cattle closed $0.35 higher at $234.65 and December live cattle closed $0.25 higher at $234.47. New showlists appear to be about steady in Nebraska/Colorado, somewhat higher in Texas, and higher in Kansas.
Monday's slaughter is estimated at 103,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week ago and 10,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.59 ($386.48) and select down $1.56 ($365.87) with a movement of 102 loads (56.61 loads of choice, 12.17 loads of select, 11.98 loads of trim and 20.92 loads of ground beef).
TUESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Lower. With boxed beef prices starting the week off lower, and with packers able to get cattle bought cheaper last week, it's likely that packers will try to get the market worked lower again this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
It will be interesting to see how the feeder cattle market pans out this week, as today was a conflicting story for the market to try to decipher. On one hand, you saw the feeder cattle contracts close lower, seeming to respect and keep in line with last week's trend, but on the other hand, in the countryside feeder cattle demand was red hot. August feeders closed $0.12 lower at $360.50, September feeders closed $0.60 lower at $357.87 and October feeders closed $0.77 lower at $354.80. At the Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage, Missouri, compared to last week, feeder steers sold steady to $10.00 higher, except five weight steers, which traded $15.00 to $18.00 stronger. Feeder heifers sold $5.00 lower to $5.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 79%. The CME feeder cattle index 6/2/2026: down $1.52, $371.11.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts ended the day mixed, with a couple of the nearby contracts closing lower while the remaining deferred contracts closed higher. More than anything, traders want to see continued consumer demand in order to keep pushing the contracts higher. July lean hogs closed $0.50 lower at $93.35, August lean hogs closed $0.22 lower at $98.52 and October lean hogs closed $0.55 higher at $82.57. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 2,988 head sold throughout the day and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $97.21. Pork cutouts total 292.30 loads with 264.16 loads of pork cuts and 28.14 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.19, $96.25. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 468,000 head -- 16,000 head more than a week ago and 2,000 head less than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 6/1/2026: up $0.19, $91.67.
TUESDAY'S HOG CALL: Higher. With pork cutout values closing higher, packers will likely be a tick more aggressive in Tuesday's cash market.
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