Traders Remain Cautious About Being Overly Supportive of the Livestock Contracts

GENERAL COMMENTS:

All in all it was a quiet day throughout the livestock complex with not much developing to push the contracts one way or another. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day, but asking prices are noted at $225 in the South. December corn is up 8 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $7.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 419.02 points and NASDAQ is down 271.12 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Throughout the day the live cattle complex traded lower as the market simply didn’t have enough support available to it to safely and confidently trade higher. October live cattle closed $0.60 lower at $212.07, December live cattle closed $1.20 lower at $213.37 and February live cattle closed $1.55 lower at $214.92. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day, but asking prices were noted in the South at $225. It’s likely that trade will be delayed until later in the week and given that packers have secured inventory in recent weeks, it’s likely that prices will be steady at absolute best. Tuesday’s slaughter is estimated at 106,000 head — 1,000 head less than a week ago and 16,000 head less than a year ago.

Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $3.93 ($379.75) and select up $1.96 ($360.45) with a movement of 110 loads (78.57 loads of choice, 9.08 loads of select, 10.81 loads of trim and 11.07 loads of ground beef).

WEDNESDAY’S CATTLE CALL: Lower. With packers sitting on plenty of inventory and supplies growing by the week, it’s likely that prices will be lower again this week.

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex also ended the day lower as traders didn’t feel comfortable with the amount of support available in the complex and surely weren’t going to advance the feeder cattle contracts when the live cattle contracts were trading lower. September feeders closed $1.10 lower at $320.35; October feeders closed $1.62 lower at $315.40 and November feeders closed $1.90 lower at $308.52. At OKC West Livestock Auction in El Reno, Oklahoma compared to last week and at their midsession point, steer calves over 500 pounds traded $5.00 to $10.00 higher, but under 500 pounds traded steady. Heifer calves weren’t well comparable to last week’s test, but a firm undertone was noted. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 21%. The CME feeder cattle index 8/31/2026: down $0.17, $329.14.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog contracts ended the day mixed with the market’s nearby contracts still closing lower, while the deferred months managed to close slightly higher. More than anything it’s the market’s technical resistance that’s become a barrier, and if trades are going to surpass that level, they’ll need to see continued fundamental support. Thankfully pork cutout values did end the day higher, but traders still want more support. October lean hogs closed $0.02 lower at $83.65, December lean hogs closed $0.15 lower at $74.00 and February lean hogs closed $0.25 lower at $76.27. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $2.90 with a weighted average price of $91.63 on 8,385 head. Pork cutouts total 269.34 loads with 235.38 loads of pork cuts and 33.96 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.23, $97.90. Tuesday’s slaughter is estimated at 472,000 head — 2,000 head more than a week ago and 11,000 head less than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 8/28/2026: down $0.66, $90.86.

WEDENSDAY’S HOG CALL: Steady. There’s a chance that prices could hold steady if not potentially trade even a little higher as pork demand is strong.

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