DTN Midday Livestock Comments          01/14 11:49

   Cattle Dip Lower While Hogs Run Higher

   The cattle contracts are trading lower into midday Wednesday as traders are 
skeptical of advancing the contracts without first seeing what shakes out this 
week in the fed cash cattle market. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is again trading mixed into the midday Wednesday as 
hogs run aggressively into the noon hour with ample support from traders, but 
the cattle complex is a tick more cautious today following Tuesday's higher 
run. Still no cash cattle trade has developed. March corn is up 2 1/4 cents per 
bushel and March soybean meal is up $1.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 
down 273.41 points and the NASDAQ is down 373.82 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is trading lower into midday Wednesday as traders 
are confident that they possess enough support to push the contracts any 
higher. On Tuesday, the market was charged with bullishness, but today, traders 
seem to look at the markets a tick more level-headed, and while they believe 
that the bullish sentiment is justified, they also know that they need to see 
immediate fundamental support before they can confidently push the contracts 
higher in the near term. February live cattle are down $2.07 at $235.17, April 
live cattle are down $1.62 at $237.35 and June live cattle are down $1.25 at 
$232.15. Still no cash cattle trade has developed.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.34 ($359.33) and select up $0.33 
($357.51) with a movement of 78 loads (52.90 loads of choice, 5.14 loads of 
select, 12.17 loads of trim and 8.20 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   And once again, in alignment with the direction of the live cattle complex, 
the feeder cattle contracts are also trading lower into Wednesday's noon hour. 
January feeders are down $2.72 at $363.55, March feeders are down $2.75 at 
$359.37 and April feeders are down $2.30 at $358.30. Until the live cattle 
complex trades higher, the feeder cattle complex will likely continue to trade 
in a cautious, lower manner.

LEAN HOGS:

   Traders continue to push the lean hog complex higher, with not a lot of 
fundamental support behind their ambitions. Both cash prices and pork cutout 
values have been lax this week, but even so, traders continue to aggressively 
push the contracts. February lean hogs are up $1.22 at $85.85, April lean hogs 
are up $1.50 at $92.75 and June lean hogs are up $1.07 at $105.40.

   The projected lean hog index for 1/13/2026 is down $0.11 at $80.39 and the 
actual index for 1/12/2026 is down $0.10 at $80.50. Hog prices are again 
unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. 
However, we can see that only 418 head have traded and that the market's 
five-day rolling average sits at $68.56. Pork cutouts total 216.53 loads with 
171.37 loads of pork cuts and 45.15 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down 
$0.12, $91.68.

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




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