DTN Midday Livestock Comments          03/13 11:50

   Mixed Tones Summarize Livestock Complex Near Noon Friday  

   With a JBS plant strike looming in Colorado, this week's cash cattle trade 
could be essentially done. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex continues mixed as traders desire to see the complex 
trade higher, but need widespread, consistent support before they'll be able to 
advance the contracts confidently. No new cash cattle trade has developed yet 
Friday. May corn is up 3 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $0.30. The 
Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 50.72 points and NASDAQ is down 116.43 
points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is mildly higher headed into Friday's noon hour as 
traders are again allowing the complex to find a little technical support. 
Currently the spot April contract is trading above its 100-day moving average; 
monitoring that threshold through the day's end will be vital as traders may 
not keep the complex above that price-point through closing as there's not much 
fundamental support in the market. April live cattle are up $0.10 at $231.32, 
June live cattle are up $0.02 at $229.40 and August live cattle are down $0.02 
at $227.25. No new cash cattle trade has developed, but a single bid is on the 
table at $235 in Kansas. So far this week, Northern dressed business has been 
done at mostly $372, $8 lower, and Southern live business was done at mostly 
$235, $4 lower in Texas, and $5 lower in Kansas. A few deals were noted up to 
$236 in some areas. It's likely trade volumes will remain light this week as 
there's expected to be a plant strike starting on Monday at the JBS plant in 
Greeley, Colorado.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.16 ($397.25) and select up $0.04 
($390.86) with a movement of 28 loads (21.47 loads of choice, 2.03 loads of 
select, zero loads of trim and 4.55 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle complex is fully higher moving into Friday's noon hour as 
traders seem confident allowing the contracts to scale mildly higher even 
though the market's fundamentals haven't been overly supportive this week. 
March feeders are up $1.60 at $349.62, April feeders are up $0.75 at $343.70 
and May feeders are up $0.05 at $339.97. But ahead of the day's end, it 
wouldn't be surprising to see the market again slip below its 100-day moving 
average as next week is expected to face challenges with the potential plant 
strike in Colorado.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is again trading lower. Although pork demand may be up 
slightly, the market doesn't have the technical support it needs. April lean 
hogs are down $0.77 at $93.57, June lean hogs are down $0.70 at $107.47 and 
July lean hogs are down $0.60 at $109.32. Helping drive the pork cutout values 
higher is mostly the $9.02 jump in the belly.

   The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/12/2026 is up $0.16 at $91.60, and 
the actual index for 3/11/2026 is up $0.24 at $91.44. Hog prices are lower on 
the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.07 with a weighted average price 
of $92.09, ranging from $86.00 to $93.00 on 1,941 head and a five-day rolling 
average of $92.76. Pork cutouts total 121.12 loads with 98.88 loads of pork 
cuts and 22.24 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.97, $101.26.

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




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