Wednesday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Cattle Dip Lower, While Hogs Rally

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading mixed again as the cattle contracts continue to err on the side of caution while the lean hogs contracts are trading higher. Asking prices have been noted at $400 in eastern Nebraska. December corn is down 7 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $4.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 711.85 points and NASDAQ is down 118.48 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Live cattle futures are continuing to scale lower as, simply put, there isn't enough immediate support in the market to keep the contracts from trading lower. With boxed beef prices lower and the assumption the cash market could be pushed lower again this week too, traders are erring on the side of extra caution while the market continues to look for support. August live cattle are down $1.65 at $236.77, October live cattle are down $1.37 at $232.65 and December live cattle are down $1.50 at $232.50. Asking prices are noted at $400 in eastern Nebraska, but otherwise the cash market is sitting idle.

Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $3.56 ($382.21) and select down $2.99 ($362.90) with a movement of 75 loads (48.91 loads of choice, 9.61 loads of select, 9.86 loads of trim and 7.09 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Although feeder cattle demand has been relatively strong this week, traders aren't going to move the feeder cattle contracts in the opposite direction of the live cattle contracts. August feeders are down $1.62 at $359.10, September feeders are down $1.27 at $356.12 and October feeders are down $1.90 at $351.87. The spot August contract continues to hover around the market's 100-day and 40-day moving averages -- hoping some form of stronger support will arise quickly and keep the market from sinking sharply below those thresholds.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog contracts are seeing some additional support Wednesday. We are currently seeing a rally anywhere between $1.00 to $2.00 higher heading into Wednesday's noon hour. It's helpful that packers have been more aggressive this week in the cash market and that this morning pork cutout values are higher. Both factors help encourage traders to continue to push the contracts higher. July lean hogs are up $0.82 at $94.27, August lean hogs are up $1.90 at $98.82 and October lean hogs are up $2.67 at $84.35.

The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 7/7/2026 is up $0.32 at $91.98 and the actual index for 7/6/2026 is up $0.11 at $91.66. Hog prices average $96.89 on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, ranging from $86.00 to $96.89 on 2,480 head and a five-day rolling average of $96.64. Pork cutouts total 164.87 loads with 136.08 loads of pork cuts and 28.78 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.07, $98.98.