DTN Midday Livestock Comments          10/14 11:40

   Feeder Cattle Rally Another $4.00 to $5.00 Higher

   The feeder cattle complex is again leading the storm as the cattle contracts 
continue to trade higher.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is again trading mixed as the lean hog contracts 
continue to tumble lower, but the cattle contracts are again being led higher 
by the feeder cattle market. Still no cash cattle trade has developed, and 
trade will likely be delayed until Thursday or Friday. December corn is up 1 
1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $0.10. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average is up 218.83 points and the NASDAQ is down 75.92 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   Although the live cattle complex started the day off weaker, the market has 
since turned its direction and is now trading fully higher into the noon hour 
as traders are pleased to see morning boxed beef prices higher again. December 
live cattle are up $1.42 at $246.17, February live cattle are up $1.07 at 
$248.27. Again today, the uptick in the futures complex has pushed most of the 
nearby contracts to new contract highs. Still no developments have surfaced in 
the fed cash cattle market, and it's likely that with feedlot managers able to 
push prices higher last week, they'll again try to advance the market and wait 
to trade any of their pens until late in the week.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.70 ($364.61) and select up $0.67 
($350.42) with a movement of 67 loads (41.93 loads of choice, 6.60 loads of 
select, 5.02 loads of trim and 13.00 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Once again leading the charge, the feeder cattle complex is trading fully 
higher into Tuesday's market, with a snappy $4.00 to $5.00 rally being the 
theme throughout the complex. November feeders are up $4.60 at $381.42, January 
feeders are up $4.67 at $378.40 and March feeders are up $4.85 at $376.20. With 
strong equity markets, cheap feed and incredible demand, it's been almost easy 
for the feeder cattle market to push the contracts higher as demand continues 
to be wildly strong.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex hasn't been as fortunate today as its contracts are 
trading lower and are nearing support thresholds in the spot December contract. 
One would hope that the support plane around $82.00 would hold strong and not 
be broken through, but with demand being fickle in the hog sector right now, 
it's anyone's guess how low traders are going to send this thing. December lean 
hogs are down $1.95 at $82.90, February lean hogs are down $1.72 at $85.30 and 
April lean hogs are down $1.25 at $89.05. Yes, pork cutout values are up a bit 
this morning, but traders are going to need to see more than a midday report's 
worth of higher prices before they'll say that demand is truly shining through 
in the market.

   The projected lean hog index for 10/13/2025 is down $0.58 at $97.99, and the 
actual index for 10/10/2025 is down $0.86 at $98.57. Hog prices are unavailable 
on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality; however, we 
can see that only 2,110 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling 
now sits at $97.31. Pork cutouts total 186.66 loads with 173.29 loads of pork 
cuts and 13.37 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.32, $103.91.

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




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