DTN Midday Livestock Comments          10/28 11:58

   Cautious Tones Remain the Theme in the Cattle Complex

   The feeder cattle complex is still trading lower as traders are on edge 
following the meeting between Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Mexican 
officials last Friday.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is trading mixed into midday Tuesday, as traders are 
leery of being overly supportive of the livestock contracts. Some bids are on 
the table in the cash cattle market, but no new trade has developed following 
Monday's light business. December corn is up 5 cents per bushel and December 
soybean meal is up $7.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 244.46 points 
and the NASDAQ is up 121.74 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex has found some stability in Tuesday's market, as 
trades are now letting the contracts trade mildly higher. December live cattle 
are down $0.07 at $227.10, February live cattle are up $0.52 at $224.52 and 
April live cattle are up $1.10 at $224.02. Meanwhile, the turmoil that's shaken 
the cattle complex to its core is still rattling the fed cash cattle market as 
bids are on the table early this morning, and packers were able to get some 
cattle bought Monday afternoon. Asking prices are noted at $240 plus in the 
South but are still not established in the North. A light trade was reported by 
Mandatory in the North yesterday, with dressed deals showing a rather wide 
range of $355 to $360.

   Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.80 ($378.68) and select down $0.30 
($361.36) with a movement of 70 loads (44.74 loads of choice, 7.90 loads of 
select, 6.17 loads of trim and 11.23 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex may be trading higher, but the feeder cattle market 
is still trading sharply lower as the market is unsettled and uneasy without 
knowing what happened between Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Mexican 
officials in their meeting last Friday. November feeders are down $3.70 at 
$334.52, January feeders are down $7.97 at $326.45 and March feeders are down 
$9.40 at $321.90. Unfortunately, until some answers are provided or some 
clarity develops, it's unlikely that the market is going to trade anything but 
lower.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is continuing to trade lower as the market is still 
disappointed in the lack of support it's seeing from consumers. December lean 
hogs are down $0.45 at $81.05, February lean hogs are down $0.75 at $82.65 and 
April lean hogs are down $0.85 at $87.15. And until traders see more support 
develop, a steady/somewhat lower trend is most likely.

   The projected lean hog index for 10/27/2025 is down $0.24 at $92.03 and the 
actual index for 10/24/2025 is down $0.68 at $92.27. Hog prices on the Daily 
Direct Morning Hog Report average $88.76, ranging from $80.00 to $90.00 on 
13,479 head and a five-day rolling average of $88.16. Pork cutouts total 192.61 
loads with 156.25 loads of pork cuts and 36.36 loads of trim. Pork cutout 
values: down $0.04, $101.04.

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




(c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.