DTN Midday Livestock Comments          06/25 11:43

   Mixed Tones Take Over the Cattle Complex

   Take note that later this afternoon the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report is 
set to be released.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex continues to trade mixed as the cattle contracts are 
trading lower while they wait for the cash market to develop, and the lean hog 
complex is waiting to see what's unveiled in the afternoon's Quarterly Hogs and 
Pigs report. Although bids are on the table in the cash market, it's likely 
that trade could be delayed until Friday still. July corn is up 3 3/4 cents per 
bushel and July soybean meal is up $2.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 
up 321.98 points and NASDAQ is down 103.26 points.

   Thursday's export report shared that pork next sales of 26,200 mt for 2026 
were up 63% from the previous week but down 6% from the prior 4-week average. 
The three largest buyers were Mexico 9,700 mt, Japan 3,700 mt and South Korea 
2,800 mt. Beef net sales of 21,300 mt for 2026 were up noticeably from the 
previous week and up 88% from the prior 4-week average. The three largest 
buyers were South Korea 7,100 mt, Japan 3,400 mt and Taiwan 3,400 mt.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is trading mostly lower into Thursday's noon hour as 
traders remain on edge waiting to see what's going to develop in this week's 
fed cash cattle market. Bids are currently on the table in Kansas and Nebraska, 
but no trade has developed yet. Asking prices of $415 are being reported in 
eastern Nebraska, but again, no sales have been reported just yet. August live 
cattle are down $0.05 at $246.47, October live cattle are down $0.25 at $240.12 
and December live cattle are down $0.40 at $239.45.

   Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.80 ($397.14) and select down 
$1.73 ($376.41) with a movement of 53 loads (36.92 loads of choice, 7.76 loads 
of select, 3.52 loads of trim and 4.59 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle contracts are also trading lower as traders simply don't 
feel comfortable advancing the contracts without the support of the live cattle 
market. It's been a stellar week in terms of demand for feeder cattle in the 
countryside. However, today's pullback stems from technical fear that traders 
may have advanced the contracts too much without first seeing what was going to 
develop in the fed cash cattle complex. August feeders are down $0.25 at 
$372.67, September feeders are up $0.02 at 370.65 and October feeders are down 
$0.20 at $367.35.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is trading mixed as the market anxiously awaits what 
this afternoon's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report is going to unveil. July lean 
hogs are down $0.70 at $93.15, August lean hogs are down $0.20 at $96.50 and 
October lean hogs are up $0.05 at $80.95. It appears as though traders are more 
confident in the market's demand/supply situation later in the year than they 
are for the meantime, as the deferred contracts are trading mildly higher. The 
projected lean hog index is delayed from the source. Pork cutouts total 148.27 
loads with 128.23 loads of pork cuts and 20.04 loads of trim. Pork cutout 
values: up $2.20, $96.06. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct 
Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 
160 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at 
$96.58.

   ShayLe Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com




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