DTN Midday Livestock Comments          11/26 11:56

   Cattle Trade Higher After Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins Comments

   Bids are on the table in Kansas, but still no further trade has developed. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock contracts are trading fully higher at midday Wednesday as the 
hog complex is pleased to see a slight uptick in demand, and the cattle 
contracts are happy to have heard positive news from Agriculture Secretary 
Brooke Rollins in an interview she did on Tuesday. No new cash cattle trade has 
developed. March corn is up 7 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is up 
$0.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 429.10 points and the NASDAQ is 
up 218.05 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   Wednesday's rally in the cattle complex could be in part due to the 
interview that Lonesome Lands shared with Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins. 
A couple of major points were discussed in the interview: Rollins stated that 
when the U.S.-Mexico border reopens, not all ports will reopen at once and that 
"you will not see 1 million head of cattle show up overnight, it's going to be 
a slow and gradual process." Rollins also stated the port in Arizona is likely 
to reopen first as it's furthest away from any detected New World screwworm. 
Rollins also stated there's not an ag industry that she's more bullish about 
than cattle.

   December live cattle are up $4.30 at $211.30, February live cattle are up 
$5.90 at $213.22 and April live cattle are up $5.92 at $214.50. No new cash 
cattle trade has been reported, but bids are on the table in Kansas at $215. On 
Tuesday, some trade developed in the North at $330, which is $15.00 lower than 
last week's weighted average. Although there have not been many cattle traded 
in the South, a handful of deals were marked at $215, which is $7.00 to $9.00 
lower than last week's weighted average.

   Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.45 ($368.64) and select up $2.55 
($358.48) with a movement of 115 loads (76.90 loads of choice, 10.97 loads of 
select, 12.76 loads of trim and 14.74 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle complex is also trading notably higher (mostly $7.00 to 
$8.00 higher) as the market is pleased to hear positive news from Ag Secretary 
Brooke Rollins. January feeders are up $7.97 at $315.05, March feeders are up 
$8.62 at $309.52 and April feeders are up $8.70 at $308.10. So long as the live 
cattle contracts continue to trade higher through Wednesday's close, it's 
likely feeder cattle contracts will as well.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is also trading higher as the market is pleased to note 
a slight bump in pork demand and is likely receiving a little extra spill-over 
support from the cattle complex. December lean hogs are up $1.37 at $79.82, 
February lean hogs are up $1.97 at $80.95 and April lean hogs are up $2.10 at 
$85.05. Packers have made it bluntly clear that they don't need many hogs this 
week.

   The projected lean hog index for 11/25/2025 is down $0.54 at $82.27, and the 
actual index for 11/24/2025 is down $0.80 at $82.81. Hog prices are unavailable 
again on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. 
However, we can see that only 200 head have traded this morning and that the 
market's five-day rolling average now sits at $70.92. Pork cutouts totaled 
212.91 loads with 172.82 loads of pork cuts and 40.09 loads of trim. Pork 
cutout values: up $0.98, $93.23.

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




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