DTN Midday Livestock Comments          07/30 11:48

   Cattle Continue to Scale Higher Thursday; Hogs Under Pressure 

   Cash cattle bids are on the table in Nebraska, but no new sales have been 
marked yet Thursday. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is mixed heading into Thursday's noon hour with the 
cattle contracts still seeing modest trader support while the lean hog 
contracts are trading lower. Bids are on the table in Nebraska, but no new 
sales have been reported yet Thursday morning. December corn is down 1 cent per 
bushel and December soybean meal is up $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
is up 458.34 points and NASDAQ is up 599.19 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is continuing to move higher as traders are 
committed to advancing the complex following the massive erosion seen during 
the past month. The market's upward momentum is solely technically driven at 
this point as the cash market has yet to really break loose and trade cattle 
this week. Boxed beef prices have been mixed. August live cattle are up $1.95 
at $229.85, October live cattle are up $1.75 at $225.72 and December live 
cattle are up $1.65 at $224.97. Bids are beginning to surface again in the fed 
cash cattle market. Currently packers are offering $235 live and $365 dressed. 
Asking prices remain at $234 to $235 in the South and at $370 in the North, and 
more trade is expected to develop throughout the day.

   Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.85 ($362.58) and select down 
$0.54 ($341.87) with a movement of 60 loads (38.45 loads of choice, 8.10 loads 
of select, 9.39 loads of trim and 3.89 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Again Thursday, with the support of live cattle futures higher trend, the 
feeder cattle contracts are higher. August feeders are down $0.37 at $343.90, 
September feeders are up $0.32 at $338.97 and October feeders are up $0.85 at 
$330.47. With the brutal heat that's spread this week across much of the U.S., 
feeder cattle sales have been mostly lower, even though the board is trading 
higher.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog contracts are continuing to break substantially lower as the 
market is heavily relying on consumer support and, although midday pork cutout 
values are slightly higher, they have shown some weakness in the recent trading 
sessions. August lean hogs are down $1.82 at $98.85, October lean hogs are down 
$2.62 at $83.05 and December lean hogs are down $3.10 at $74.10. Hopefully 
consumer support will strengthen and put an end to the pressure currently being 
seen.

   The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 7/29/2026 is down $0.01 at $98.44 and 
the actual index for 7/28/2026 is up $0.10 at $98.45. Hog prices are lower on 
the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, down $1.13 with a weighted average of 
$100.52, ranging from $92.00 to $102.50 on 1,668 head and a five-day rolling 
average of $100.93. Pork cutouts total 124.53 loads with 116.64 loads of pork 
cuts and 7.89 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.61, $102.39.

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




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