DTN Midday Livestock Comments          03/04 11:43

   Traders Push Livestock Contracts Higher 

   There's a single bid currently offered in Nebraska, but with the board 
rebounding feedlot managers will likely wait until later in the week to trade 
cattle in hopes of getting steady -- if not stronger -- prices. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is rallying into Wednesday's noon hour as technical 
support is ample right now. A single bid is on the table in the cash cattle 
market, but no cattle have traded yet. May corn is down 4 1/4 cents per bushel 
and May soybean meal is down $3.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 
270.87 points and NASDAQ is up 301.98 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is charging full steam ahead into Wednesday's noon 
hour as the market is currently trading $2.00 to $3.00 higher into the 
afternoon. April live cattle are up $3.37 at $237.60, June live cattle are up 
$3.75 at $234.42 and August live cattle are up $3.62 at $232.52. Pinpointing 
what's driving the rally in the cattle sector is somewhat challenging, but more 
than anything it seems as though traders have reignited their bullish sentiment 
toward the market and are now giving the complex more technical support. 
There's a single bid currently on the table in Nebraska at $375, but otherwise 
no cattle have traded yet in the cash market.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.78 ($388.83) and select up $1.79 
($380.37) with a movement of 52 loads (40.57 loads of choice, 4.68 loads of 
select, 2.56 loads of trim and 4.11 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Upon seeing the live cattle complex rally aggressively, the feeder cattle 
contracts have jumped into action as well as most of the contracts are sizeable 
$4.00 to $5.00 increases. March feeders are up $5.30 at $362.50, April feeders 
are up $5.72 at $358.97 and May feeders are up $5.82 at $355.17. The 40-day 
moving average seems to be giving the complex a little bit of resistance, but 
if the live cattle complex continues to trade higher traders may elect to 
conquer it later in the week.

LEAN HOGS:

   With a slight uptick in pork demand, the lean hog contracts are also 
rallying into Wednesday's noon hour. April lean hogs are up $1.10 at $96.85, 
June lean hogs are up $1.62 at $111.10 and July lean hogs are up $1.42 at 
$112.82. So far this week the market has chopped mostly sideways as traders 
haven't wanted to push the contracts any higher without increased fundamental 
support. But the slight uptick in pork demand has traders willing to advance 
the contracts at this point in time.

   The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/3/2026 is up $0.34 at $90.18 and the 
actual index for 3/2/2026 is up $0.15 at $89.84. Hog prices are unavailable on 
the Daily Direct Morning Hog report because of confidentiality. However, we can 
see that 995 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average 
sits at $91.29. Pork cutouts total 151.94 loads with 124.41 loads of pork cuts 
and 27.53 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.63, $99.13.

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




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