Thursday Midday Livestock Market Update - Light Cash Cattle Trade at $248 is Noted in Texas

GENERAL COMMENTS:

Some light cash cattle trade has developed in the South on Thursday, but not enough cattle have traded to say any sort of a trend has been established for the week. Packer interest will likely continue to improve throughout the day. December corn is down 2 1/2 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $3.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 198.85 points and NASDAQ is up 231.69 points.

Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 14,000 mt for 2026 were primarily for Japan (4,200 mt), South Korea (3,200 mt) and Taiwan (1,400 mt). Pork net sales of 17,700 mt for 2026 were down 53% from the previous week and 32% from the prior 4-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (7,500 mt), Japan (4,600 mt) and Canada (1,300 mt).

LIVE CATTLE:

Unfortunately, the same song and dance is seen today in the live cattle complex as the contracts continue to scale lower. August live cattle are down $1.72 at $235.92, October live cattle are down $1.27 at $232.27 and December live cattle are down $1.22 at $232.42. Some light cash cattle trade has begun to develop as a handful of cattle have traded at $248 in Texas; but not enough have sold to say any sort of trend has been solidified just yet. Bids of $248 are also noted in Kansas and bids of $393 have surfaced in Nebraska.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.38 ($379.82) and select up $1.10 ($364.19) with a movement of 31 loads (24.84 loads of choice, 3.26 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 3.02 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Sadly, the higher momentum the feeder cattle contracts had through Wednesday's close ran dry as Thursday the market is back to following the live cattle contracts lower. August feeders are down $2.75 at $359.37, September feeders are down $2.95 at $355.70 and October feeders are down $2.80 at $351.77. Currently the spot August contract is trading just below its 100-day moving average as weakness continues to spread.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog contracts continue to trade mixed with the deferred contracts more confident in the market's outlook than the nearby contracts. July lean hogs are down $0.25 at $94.25, August lean hogs are down $1.25 at $98.40 and October lean hogs are up $0.40 at $85.92. Luckily with midday pork cutout values up slightly, the market should be able to keep its stronger position in the deferred contracts. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 7/8/2026 is up $0.37 at $92.35 and the actual index for 7/7/2026 is up $0.32 at $91.98. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.06 with a weighted average price of $96.95, ranging from $92.00 to $99.00 on 8,935 head and a five-day rolling average of $96.94. Pork cutouts total 106.48 loads with 91.93 loads of pork cuts and 14.55 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.74, $98.90.