DTN Midday Livestock Comments          08/03 11:52

   Traders Continue to Show Up and Support the Livestock Contracts

   The livestock complex is trading mostly higher into Monday's noon hour as 
traders continue to faithfully support the contracts.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is trading mostly higher into Monday's noon hour, 
aside from a couple of the nearby contracts in both the feeder cattle and lean 
hog markets. New showlists are mixed this week as showlists are lighter in 
Texas and Kansas, but larger in Nebraska and Colorado. December corn is up 5 
1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $0.50. The Dow Jones 
Industrial Average is up 525.30 points and NASDAQ is up 518.77 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   Traders continue to be supportive of the live cattle complex heading into 
the new week as the contracts are all trading higher. August live cattle are up 
$0.55 at $232.30, October live cattle are up $0.50 at $227.75 and December live 
cattle are up $0.47 at $227.42. Packers must be short bought heading into this 
new week as bids have already surfaced in Kansas at $233. Asking prices are not 
yet established, but it's assumed that prices will be steady if not higher 
again this week. New showlists are mixed this week as showlists are lighter in 
Texas and Kansas, but larger in Nebraska and Colorado.

   Last week, Southern live cattle traded from $231 to $233, which is $1 to $3 
higher than the previous week's weighted average. Northern dressed cattle 
traded at from $365 to $368, which is steady to $3 higher.

   Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $5.36 ($366.74) and select down $2.25 
($343.98) with a movement of 54 loads (19.24 loads of choice, 17.38 loads of 
select, 5.52 loads of trim and 11.56 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   And with the continued support of the live cattle market's higher trend, the 
feeder cattle contracts are mostly trading higher into Monday's noon hour as 
well. A couple of the nearby contracts are trading lower, which is likely 
stemming from the fact that demand in the countryside has been mixed even 
though the board has been committed to trading higher recently. August feeders 
are down $0.52 at $347.50, September feeders are down $0.17 at $343.60 and 
October feeders are up $0.20 at $335.55.

LEAN HOGS:

   Even with midday pork cutout values higher, the lean hog contracts are 
trading mixed into Monday's noon hour with the nearby contracts remaining 
skeptical while the deferred contracts inch higher. More than anything, traders 
likely want to see consistent support from consumers before they'll push the 
contracts any higher for the time being. August lean hogs are down $1.17 at 
$97.67, October lean hogs are down $1.35 at $83.50 and December lean hogs are 
down $0.67 at $75.00. The projected lean hog index for 7/31/2026 is down $0.55 
at $97.68 and the actual index for 7/30/2026 is down $0.21 at $98.23. Hog 
prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report because of 
confidentiality. However, we can see that only 551 head have traded and that 
the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $101.14. Pork cutouts total 
161.02 loads with 149.52 loads of pork cuts and 11.50 loads of trim. Pork 
cutout values: up $2.44, $102.45.

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




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