DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/06 11:47

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/06 11:47 The Hog Complex has Found Support From Strong Exports, New Tariff Announcement Heading into Thursday's afternoon, continue to watch the cash cattle market as trade could begin to develop. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is trading mixed as the cattle contracts are trading lower as traders patiently wait to see what happens with this week's cash market, but the lean hog complex is trading higher. Bids of $195 to $196 live have surfaced in the South, and bids of $310 dressed are being offered in the North. May corn is up 12 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $6.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 494.62 points. Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 13,400 mt for 2025 were down 27% from the previous week and 31% from the prior 4-week average. The three primary buyers were South Korea (3,300 mt), Japan (2,900 mt) and China (2,500 mt). Pork net sales of 42,400 mt for 2025 were up 32% from the previous week and 27% from the prior 4-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (21,800 mt), China (11,300 mt) and Japan (3,200 mt). LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle market's rally has again been paused as trades seem to be reluctant to advance the contracts any higher until they see what the week's cash cattle market is going to accomplish. There are currently some bids on the table with live cattle in Texas being bid at $195, and bids in Nebraska surfacing at $195 live and $310 dressed. There's been a slight movement already this week in the South at $195 to $197, which is steady to $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average. Again, the week's movement has been very thin, and no sort of an accurate trend can be stated just yet. Packer interest should improve throughout the day. Asking prices for cattle in the South are noted at $198 to $200 and at $315 in the North. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.21 ($313.33) and select up $3.78 ($306.31) with a movement of 63 loads (48.31 loads of choice, 6.31 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 8.15 loads of ground beef 8.15 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex is again following the live cattle market as its uncertain that it can challenge resistance levels without the full commitment of traders and better support from the fed cash cattle market. March feeders are down $2.27 at $273.82, April feeders are down $2.07 at $274.00 and May feeders are down $1.80 at $273.27. Unless the live cattle complex begins to trade higher (which would most likely happen if the cash cattle market is able to trade higher) then feeders may follow suit, but without the live cattle market's support higher trade isn't likely. LEAN HOGS: Thankfully, Thursday has lent the lean hog complex all sorts of good news as the morning's export report was fruitful and news broke mid-morning that President Trump plans to delay tariffs on most goods from Mexico for another month. And with U.S. hog producers concerned about keeping a good working relationship open between the U.S. and Mexico as the market needs that export channel, this announcement is found to be a win. April lean hogs are up $2.05 at $86.77, June lean hogs are up $1.95 at $96.52 and July lean hogs are up $1.45 at $97.80. The projected lean hog index for 3/5/2025 is down $0.02 at $90.18, and the actual index for 3/4/2025 is also down $0.02 at $90.20. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 2,5752 head have traded, and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $89.65. Pork cutouts total 115.17 loads with 106.42 loads of pork cuts and 8.76 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.85, $97.33. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2025 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.