Cattle Contracts Remain Hesitant Amid Looming New World Screwworm Concerns

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading mixed into Wednesday’s noon hour as the cattle contracts continue to struggle amid external pressures; but the lean hog contracts are trading higher. Some light cash cattle trade has developed in Nebraska — but not enough to say that any sort of a trend has been established for the week. July corn is down 6 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $3.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 439.58 points and NASDAQ is down 263.25 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Without any significant fundamental support and concerns about New World screwworm still lingering, the live cattle contracts are trading lower into Wednesday’s noon hour. June live cattle are down $0.17 at $247.50, August live cattle are down $0.07 at $239.90 and October live cattle are down $0.12 at $230.77. Unfortunately, unless the fed cash cattle market were to surprise everyone and trade higher this week, a longer lower trend is likely to remain the market’s overarching theme. Some light cash cattle trade has been noted in eastern Nebraska on Wednesday morning at $405; but otherwise no more trade has developed following Tuesday’s light business. On Tuesday, a handful of cattle traded in Texas at $255, but there weren’t enough sold to say any sort of a trend has been accurately established for the week.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $1.94 ($396.01) and select down $0.39 ($384.42) with a movement of 62 loads (33.35 loads of choice, 4.61 loads of select, 17.91 loads of trim and 6.43 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Keeping in perfect unison with the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts are also trading lower into Wednesday’s noon hour as the market simply doesn’t see enough immediate support to justify pushing the contracts higher at this point in time. August feeders are down $0.50 at $347.92, September feeders are down $0.85 at $344.27 and October feeders are down $1.15 at $340.60. With the live cattle contracts stuck in a lower trend, it’s likely the feeder cattle contracts will be too through the day’s close.

LEAN HOGS:

Even though the morning’s pork cutout value is a tick lower, the lean hog contracts are continuing to trade higher. June lean hogs are up $0.20 at $95.90, July lean hog are down $0.07 at $101.57 and August lean hogs are up $0.50 at $99.47. The main reason why the spot July contract is trading lower is because traders are beginning to move their positions from June to July and the market’s resistance at $102.00 remains a threshold traders aren’t confident they can conquer at this time. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 6/2/2026 is up $0.60 at $92.25 and the actual index for 6/1/2026 is up $0.29 at $91.65. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.38 with a weighted average price of $94.37, ranging from $87.00 to $96.00 on 1,345 head and a five-day rolling average of $94.14. Pork cutouts total 169.91 loads with 141.60 loads of pork cuts and 28.32 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.44, $100.15.

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