Monday Midday Livestock Market Update - Traders Are Keeping Their Distance From Contracts at Week's Open

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading lower into Monday's noon hour as the cattle contracts slowly absorb all the developments that surfaced last Friday and the lean hog complex is being cautious as well. Showlists for the week are steady to somewhat higher, greater in Texas and Kansas, but steady in Nebraska. December corn is down 13 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $11.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 222.93 points and NASDAQ is down 63.95 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Last Friday hit like a Mack truck. From having to absorb the monthly Cattle on Feed report, to seeing the bi-annual Cattle inventory report released, to late in the day being surprised to see an announcement come from U.S. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins that the U.S. will begin to slowly reopen the border to Mexican cattle imports on Aug. 24th -- it was a whirlwind of a day. And given that today (Monday) is the first time traders have had the chance to react to any of those reports/announcements, it comes as no real surprise the market is trading lower. August live cattle are down $1.87 at $225.20, October live cattle are down $3.45 at $219.05 and December live cattle are down $4.42 at $217.85. Showlists for the week are steady to somewhat higher, greater in Texas and Kansas, but steady in Nebraska.

Last week Southern live cattle traded at $230 which is $7.00 to $8.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average and Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $365 which is $12.00 to $15.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.72 ($362.96) and select down $0.25 ($346.46) with a movement of 50 loads (29.15 loads of choice, 6.89 loads of select, 4.88 loads of trim and 9.23 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex is taking last Friday's developments the hardest as its contracts are trading anywhere from $6.00 to $10.00 lower. August feeders are down $4.85 at $340.47, September feeders are down $6.42 at $335.07 and October feeders are down $9.05 at $326.95. With little support from the live cattle/fed cash cattle market, the additional pressure of not knowing the details of the border's reopen will likely weigh heavily on the feeder cattle market for awhile.

LEAN HOGS:

Although midday pork cutout values are higher, the lean hog complex is starting the week off in a cautious manner as well. August lean hogs are up $0.02 at $102.87, October lean hogs are down $1.42 at $87.60 and December lean hogs are down $1.90 at $78.42. More than anything a heavy weight has seemed to be cast across the livestock complex Monday morning, and if fundamental support prevails, traders will likely be able to shake the doggish energy later this week.

The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 7/24/2026 is up $0.32 at $98.23 and the actual index for 7/23/2026 is up $0.43 at $97.91. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 270 head have traded and the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $100.60. Pork cutouts total 138.40 loads with 123.20 loads of pork cuts and 15.20 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.29, $106.92.