DTN Midday Livestock Comments          03/24 11:45

   Cattle Trade Higher and Hogs Trade Lower Into Tuesday's Noon Hour

   The livestock complex continues to trade mixed as the cattle contracts trade 
higher and the hog contracts trade slightly lower.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is again trading mixed as the cattle contracts 
continue to scale higher while the lean hog contracts are trading slightly 
lower. Still no cash cattle trade has developed and won't likely until Thursday 
at the earliest. May corn is up 3 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is 
down $4.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 141.34 points and NASDAQ is 
down 75.81 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex wasn't confident about its position at the day's 
start, but upon seeing midday boxed beef prices stronger, the market has gained 
some momentum and is currently trading fully higher into Tuesday's noon hour. 
April live cattle are up $0.60 at $235.90, June live cattle are up $0.62 at 
$235.27 and August live cattle are up $0.92 at $232.67. Still no developments 
have surfaced yet in the fed cash cattle market, and it's likely that the day's 
trade will be delayed until the later part of the week. But at this point in 
time, both bids and asking prices remain elusive.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.07 ($400.20) and select up $2.47 
($396.30) with a movement of 53 loads (34.92 loads of choice, 3.25 loads of 
select, 5.11 loads of trim and 9.62 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   In keeping alignment with the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle 
contracts are trading higher into Tuesday's noon hour as well. Not only are 
traders pleased to see the slight improvement in the live cattle sector and in 
boxed beef prices, but they're also pleased to see greater interest again this 
week in the countryside for feeder cattle. March feeders are up $2.70 at 
$361.15, April feeders are up $4.00 at $356.50 and May feeders are up $4.32 at 
$352.67.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex continues to scale lower as the market needs to see 
greater fundamental support before it will be able to establish a technical 
bottom for the market's current move. April lean hogs are down $0.02 at $90.77, 
June lean hogs are down $0.62 at $103.77 and July lean hogs are down $0.67 at 
$105.85. Thankfully, again today, midday pork cutout values are slightly 
higher, but traders need to see consistent and stable support before they'll 
likely lend any aid to the complex.

   The projected lean hog index for 3/23/2026 is down $0.07 at $91.70 and the 
actual index for 3/20/2026 is down $0.18 at $91.77. Hog prices are unavailable 
on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However we 
can see that 245 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling 
average now sits at $91.29. Pork cutouts total 171.77 loads with 158.76 loads 
of pork cuts and 13.01 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.83, $100.43.

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




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