DTN Midday Livestock Comments          06/30 11:48

   Feeder Cattle Prices Lead Markets Lower Tuesday

   Sharp follow-through pressure in feeder cattle trade led the cattle complex 
lower through most of Tuesday morning. Lean hog trade remains mixed in a narrow 
range with limited early week direction.

Rick Kment
DTN Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   Cattle futures quickly led the livestock complex lower Tuesday morning 
following strong but consistent pressure led by the feeder cattle contracts 
during the first few hours of trade. Although strong triple-digit losses 
continue to hold in all feeder cattle futures and firm losses in most live 
cattle trade, prices have steadily bounced off session lows at midday, allowing 
for a hint of renewed buyer support moving back into the complex. The lack of 
strong direction on a week that is end-capped with a national holiday seems to 
be limiting many additional traders from entering the market. Lean hog futures 
remain mixed in lackluster trade interest. The same lack of intensity that is 
pushing cattle futures lower is leaving hog prices generally mixed in a narrow 
range despite the limited but lower pork values. September corn is up 6 1/4 at 
$4.165 and July soybean meal is up $1.30 at $306.00. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average is up 130.88 at 52,313.62.

LIVE CATTLE:

   Live cattle futures are mixed Tuesday morning, although the general tone of 
the complex remains weak given the strong price pressure seen in feeder cattle 
futures during morning trade. Expiring June live cattle futures are the only 
contract trading higher at midday Tuesday, while the rest of the complex is 
holding moderate losses at midday. August contracts have once again dipped 
below the 40-day moving average, which is concerning despite the recent 
strength in cash cattle and beef values. With August contracts trading at a $16 
per cwt discount to where June contracts will likely expire off the board will 
also create a significant chart gap, which will makes additional noise for 
long-term technical charts in the coming weeks and months. Cash cattle markets 
remain quiet Tuesday morning in cattle country with bids and asking prices yet 
to be established. Significant trade volume could possibly take place as early 
as Wednesday or Thursday due to the Fourth of July holiday. But in order for 
this to happen, someone needs to step up to the table. The downward price 
pressure in futures trade will also limit feeder interest heading into the 
holiday weekend. June live cattle are $0.75 higher at $258.15, August live 
cattle are $1.25 lower at $242.325, October live cattle are $1.00 lower at 
$236.375. Boxed beef prices are Higher: choice up $3.54 ($394.98) and select up 
$1.17 ($375.35) with a movement of 50.20 loads (35.45 loads of choice, 7.75 
loads of select, zero loads of trim and 7.00 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   Feeder cattle continue to hold strong triple-digit losses at midday Tuesday, 
although the lack of continued selling pressure during the morning has allowed 
prices to move away from session lows. The inability to hold onto and continue 
the support seen last week when feeder cattle futures once again hit short-term 
highs is creating concerns that underlying buyer support may not be as solid as 
what many had hoped during most of June. Given that Tuesday is both the end of 
June and the end of 2nd quarter, a significant portion of Tuesday's activities 
seem to be focusing on position adjustments ahead of month and quarter end. 
This week is also expected to remain very limited for trade activity due to the 
holiday trading schedule keeping markets closed Friday for the Fourth of July. 
August feeders are $3.60 lower at $363.875, September feeders are $3.70 lower 
at $362.05 and October feeders are $3.53 lower at $359.40.

LEAN HOGS:

   Lean hog prices are mixed in a narrow to moderate range at midday following 
very limited and generally lackluster trade interest through the morning. With 
traders and packers focusing on the upcoming Fourth of July holiday weekend, 
and very limited news for major short-term shifts in either supply or demand 
during the end of the month, traders remain content sitting on the sidelines 
allowing prices to hover in a mixed range. Tuesday will represent the end of 
the 2nd quarter of trade, with traders not only moving into a new month, but 
new quarter, and focus on the last half of 2026 from here on out. The fact that 
prices have reached 14-month lows in several nearby contracts over the last 
week is likely to limit buyer support. But given current demand, it is also 
likely that additional short-term weakness may be limited in the near future. 
July lean hogs are $0.28 higher at $94.1, August lean hogs are $0.90 higher at 
$98.175 and October lean hogs are $0.60 higher at $82.125. Hog Prices are 
unreported due to confidentiality on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report. Pork 
Cutouts totaled 143.22 loads with 126.43 loads of pork cuts and 16.79 loads of 
trim. Pork cutout values are down $4.74 at $94.79.

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




(c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.