DTN Midday Livestock Comments          01/05 11:43

   Traders Push the Livestock Complex Higher

   The livestock complex continues to trade higher as traders are excited about 
the year ahead.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is rallying into midday Monday as traders are 
currently fully supportive of the marketplace following the last two weeks, 
when the holidays were at the forefront of everyone's mind. New showlists 
appear to be somewhat higher in Kansas, but higher in Texas, and 
Nebraska/Colorado. March corn is up 6 1/4 cents per bushel and March soybean 
meal is up $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 758.04 points and the 
NASDAQ is up 194.74 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is continuing to trade higher into the new week 
following last week's surge. But more than anything, traders seem to be hitting 
the ground running to support the complex and eyeing the fact that the market's 
long-term trajectory is bullish. February live cattle is down $0.35 at $235.67, 
April live cattle is up $0.50 at $236.47 and June live cattle is up $0.87 at 
$231.22. Friday's advancement above the market's 100-day moving average was a 
significant move, as that's been a challenging threshold that the market hasn't 
traded over for the last two months. New showlists appear to be somewhat higher 
in Kansas, but higher in Texas, and Nebraska/Colorado.

   Last week Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $360, which is $4.00 
higher than the previous week's weighted average. Some live sales were marked 
in Kansas at mostly $232, which is $3.00 higher than the previous week's 
weighted average.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $4.06 ($354.03) and select up $2.63 
($349.55) with 57 loads (41.75 loads of choice, 4.52 loads of select, 4.31 
loads of trim and 6.48 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   With the support of the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts are 
trading substantially higher as support seems to be today's overarching theme. 
January feeders are up $2.55 at $358.65, March feeders are up $2.40 at $355.35 
and April feeders are up $2.52 at $354.77. It will be especially interesting to 
watch feeder cattle sales early this week, as the last real test seen in the 
countryside was the week before Christmas, and since then, the futures market 
has gained substantial ground.

LEAN HOG:

   Like the cattle complex, the lean hog contracts are also trading fully 
higher into Monday's noon hour as the market has been well supported thus far 
by trader interest. February lean hogs are up $2.05 at $86.15, April lean hogs 
are up $2.40 at $91.50 and June lean hogs are up $1.70 at $104.07. It's also 
helpful that pork cutout values are up $1.88 this morning, which is mainly 
being driven by the belly's $6.08 increase.

   The projected lean hog index for 1/2/2026 is down $0.23 at $81.62, and the 
actual index for 12/31/2025 is down $0.41 at $81.85. Pork cutouts total 154.42 
loads with 132.47 loads of pork cuts and 21.96 loads of trim. Pork cutout 
values: up $1.88, $96.45. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct 
Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 
265 head have traded this morning, and that the five-day rolling average now 
sits at $69.40.

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




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