DTN Midday Livestock Comments          10/01 11:42

   Dressed Sales Start to Develop at $345 to $348

   Some light cash cattle trade has developed in Nebraska at $345 to $348 but 
no trade has developed yet in the South.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is again trading mixed as traders are helping drive 
the cattle contracts higher while the lean hog contracts are trading lower. 
Some light cash cattle trade has developed in Nebraska at $345 to $348 but no 
trade has developed yet in the South. December corn is down 3 cents per bushel 
and December soybean meal is down $5.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is 
down 53.90 points and NASDAQ is down 38.93 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   Upon seeing that some light dressed cattle sales are trading mostly steady 
with last week's weighted average, the live cattle contracts (aside from some 
of the 2027 contracts) are trading mostly higher. October live cattle is up 
$0.77 at $219.45, December live cattle is up $0.22 at $222.92 and February live 
cattle is down $0.15 at $224.92. Some light trade has developed this morning in 
the cash sector as dressed sales have been marked at $345 to $348, which is 
mostly steady with last week's weighted average, but those sales were committed 
for delivery on the week of 10/19/2026. Bids of $226 are on the table in Kansas 
and Texas, but no Southern sales have been confirmed just yet. 

   Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $3.81 ($378.98) and select down 
$5.45 ($355.14) with a movement of 67 loads (45.80 loads of choice, 7.70 loads 
of select, 4.77 loads of trim and 8.38 loads of ground beef). 

FEEDER CATTLE:

   And upon seeing the live cattle contracts trading mostly higher, the feeder 
cattle complex is elated to again have enough support to trade higher into 
Thursday's noon hour. October feeders are up $1.60 at $338.02, November feeders 
are up $0.90 at $335.20 and January feeders are up $0.72 at $328.40. The spot 
November contract is currently trading above it's 100-day moving average -- 
which is quite a bullish signal given that the complex has traded above that 
threshold since early in July. 

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is back to trading lower as there isn't much interest 
in the cash market and pork cutout values haven't been supported enough to lend 
any sizeable difference in terms of fundamental support. October lean hogs are 
down $0.92 at $77.80, December lean hogs are down $0.50 at $68.92 and February 
lean hogs are down $0.67 at $69.50. The projected lean hog index for Sept. 30 
is down $0.24 at $80.71 and the actual index for Sept. 29 is up $0.01 at 
$80.95. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report 
because of confidentiality. However we can see that only 174 head have traded 
Thursday morning and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at 
$78.02. Pork cutouts total 146.04 loads with 128.98 loads of pork cuts and 
17.06 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.10, $85.05. 

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




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