DTN Midday Livestock Comments          05/27 11:43

   Cattle Futures Higher at Midday Wednesday; Hogs Mixed

   No cash cattle trade has developed yet Wednesday, but traders are helping 
drive the live and feeder cattle futures contracts higher into the noon hour. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is mixed heading into Wednesday's noon hour as traders 
are willing to advance the cattle contracts, but would still like to see some 
more support in the hog complex. No cash cattle trade has developed yet. July 
corn is down 4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $3.30. The Dow 
Jones Industrial Average is up 218.02 points and NASDAQ is down 35.16 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   After trading in hesitant manner on Tuesday, live cattle futures have jumped 
back into the marketplace in a more aggressive manner thus far through 
Wednesday's trade. June live cattle are up $3.20 at $251.42, August live cattle 
are up $3.80 at $242.95 and October live cattle are up $3.37 at $234.32. 
Thankfully Wednesday's bullish run has the contracts moving closer to the 
market's 40-day moving average, which the complex fell below late last week. 
Still no cash cattle trade has developed, and both bids and asking prices 
remain elusive at this point. Trade will likely be delayed until Thursday or 
Friday.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $4.02 ($396.92) and select up $5.27 
($395.57) with a movement of 67 loads (50.44 loads of choice, 5.45 loads of 
select, zero loads of trim and 10.61 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Luckily, the feeder cattle complex is also higher as traders are relieved to 
have last week's Cattle on Feed report behind them and are grateful for the 
additional technical support amid seeing the live cattle contracts trading 
higher also. August feeder cattle are up $6.30 at $355.75, September feeders 
are up $5.70 at $352.72 and October feeders are up $5.40 at $349.30. So long as 
the live cattle contracts continue to trade higher, the feeder cattle contracts 
will likely be able to do so through the day's end as well.

LEAN HOGS:

   While the cattle contracts scale higher, the lean hog complex desires to do 
so as well, but is trading in a mixed manner into Wednesday's noon hour as 
traders yearn to see better consumer support. June lean hogs are up $1.10 at 
$97.22, July lean hogs are up $1.82 at $101.95 and August lean hogs are up 
$1.45 at $100.50. Meanwhile, the further deferred months are trading slightly 
lower -- potentially because of the fear of having too much supply in the later 
part of year and into 2027. The projected CME Lean Hog Index is delayed from 
the source. Hog prices on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report average $94.50, 
ranging from $88.00 to $95.00 on 2,931 head. Pork cutouts total 242.51 loads 
with 207.63 loads of pork cuts and 34.87 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: 
unchanged, $98.85.

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




(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.