Monday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Traders Gingerly Enter the New Week

GENERAL COMMENTS:

Take a more cautious approach to Monday's market following the big gains seen late last week in the cattle complex; both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts are trading lower into midday Monday. New showlists for the week are lighter in Texas and Kansas, but steady in Nebraska. December corn is up 3 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $2.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 257.80 points and the NASDAQ is down 59.98 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Following last week's bold rally on Friday, fueled by the excitement and hope that the fed cash cattle market may be able to hold steady, the live cattle contracts are now trading lower as traders hope that some fundamental support will arise this week to complement the move. October live cattle are down $0.72 at $224.25, December live cattle are down $0.97 at $226.10 and February live cattle are down $0.45 at $229.02. New showlists for the week are lighter in Texas and Kansas, but steady in Nebraska. No cash cattle trade has developed yet this week, and it's most likely that trade will be delayed until later in the week.

Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.93 ($375.28) and select up $0.47 ($354.77) with a movement of 42 loads (23.22 loads of choice, 5.43 loads of select, 5.77 loads of trim and 7.44 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Following last Friday's powerful rally, which pushed the feeder cattle contracts mostly $7.00 higher, the feeder cattle contracts are taking a more cautious approach to Monday's open as traders would like to see some fundamental support to ensure them that they made a sound decision late last week. October feeder cattle are down $1.82 at $342.02, November feeder cattle are down $1.97 at $339.97 and January feeder cattle are down $0.97 at $335.37. And unless the live cattle contracts turn higher, it's unlikely that the feeder cattle contracts will change their direction later this afternoon.

LEAN HOGS:

Following last week's descent, the lean hog contracts have found some light trader support in Monday's market. October lean hogs are up $0.27 at $75.32, December lean hogs are up $0.77 at $68.60 and February lean hogs are up $1.00 at $70.25. But it is worth noting that pork cutout values are up over $4.00 this morning – which has been the market's Achilles' heel as traders yearn to see stronger consumer demand. The projected lean hog index for 10/9/2026 is down $1.10 at $76.51 and the actual index for 10/8/2026 is down $0.80 at $77.61. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 362 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average sits at $74.79. Pork cutouts total 149.30 loads, with 136.36 loads of pork cuts and 12.95 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $4.72, $85.22.