DTN Midday Livestock Comments          09/15 11:52

   Traders Lend Livestock Complex Ample Support Monday Morning 

   The cattle contracts are trading sharply higher into Monday's noon hour, 
which is positive to see following Friday's weaker close. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is trading fully higher into Monday's noon hour as 
trader support is ample this morning. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher 
in Kansas, but lower in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado. December corn is down 7 
cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $2.40. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average is up 39.44 points and NASDAQ is up 195.11 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   It's been a breath of fresh air to see the live cattle complex trade higher 
Monday morning as last Friday the market closed just slightly below the 40-day 
moving average in the spot October contract, which caused some anguish heading 
into the weekend. Whenever the market closes below a major threshold like that, 
there's a strong chance traders could deem that a technical reason as to why 
the contracts should continue to trade lower. But, thankfully, that hasn't been 
the case as the live cattle contracts are trading mostly $4.00 higher into 
Monday's noon hour. October live cattle are up $4.22 at $234.20, December live 
cattle are up $4.05 at $235.97 and February live cattle are up $4.20 at 
$237.42. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas, but lower in Texas 
and Nebraska/Colorado. Last week Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $375 
to $378, which is $5.00 to $8.00 lower than the previous week's weighted 
average, and Southern live cattle traded at mostly $238 to $240, which is $2.00 
to $4.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are 
higher: choice up $1.85 ($401.89) and select up $0.15 ($378.59) with a movement 
of 41 loads (30.74 loads of choice, 4.63 loads of select, zero loads of trim 
and 5.76 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle complex is also rallying aggressively into Monday's noon 
hour as the contracts are currently seeing an overabundance of support from 
traders. September feeders are up $7.80 at $358.20, October feeders are up 
$8.22 at $354.90 and November feeders are up $6.90 at $350.15. The uptick in 
the board could help feeder cattle prices in the countryside too, even though 
the fall run is fully underway.

LEAN HOGS :

   The lean hog complex seems to be appraising the marketplace early this week 
to see if there's going to be enough support to allow the contracts to trade 
higher. October lean hogs are up $0.72 at $97.85, December lean hogs are up 
$0.55 at $89.17 and February lean hogs are up $0.45 at $90.82. Pork cutout 
values are up slightly, but given their mixed nature last week, it will be 
important that traders see stable support this week. The projected CME Lean Hog 
Index for 9/12/2025 is steady at $106.14, and the actual index for 9/11/2025 is 
up $0.10 at $106.14. Hog prices are unavailable on USDA's Daily Direct Morning 
Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see only 321 head have 
traded and the market's 5-day rolling average now sits at $106.85. Pork cutouts 
total 183.11 loads with 155.73 loads of pork cuts and 27.38 loads of trim. Pork 
cutout values: up $0.19, $114.70.

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

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




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