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DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/30 12:09 Traders Drive Livestock Contracts Higher Continuing to rally off the support established late last week, the livestock contracts scaled higher into Monday's noon hour. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is off to a bullish start to the week as all three of the markets are trading higher into Monday's noon hour. New showlists appear to be somewhat lower in Texas, Nebraska and Kansas. May corn is down 3 3/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $1.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 306.71 points and NASDAQ is down 26.41 points. LIVE CATTLE: Thus far it's been another prosperous day for the live cattle complex as the market is charging onward, full-speed ahead into Monday's noon hour. Fueled by a combination of strong support from traders and from the stability recently seen in boxed beef prices -- along with mostly steady tones in last week's fed cash cattle market -- the live cattle complex has finally regained its bullish sentiment. April live cattle are up $1.15 at $239.65, June live cattle are up $1.35 at $240.12 and August live cattle are up $1.27 at $237.32. New showlists appear to be somewhat lower in Texas and even smaller in Nebraska and Kansas. Last week Northern dressed sales were marked at mostly $372, which is steady with last week's weighted average, and it wasn't until late in the day on Friday that some live cattle sales were reported in the South at $233 to $235 which is steady to $1.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $2.69 ($395.66) and select up $0.90 ($390.77) with a movement of 28 loads (14.47 loads of choice, 3.55 loads of select, 5.90 loads of trim and 3.57 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Keeping in perfect alignment with the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts are also charging higher into Monday's noon hour. Aside from the multi-faceted support the live cattle complex is currently seeing, the feeder cattle contracts are seeing that demand plus more as buyers have been notably more aggressive in sale barns across the countryside in recent weeks. With turnout season to grass nearing, demand will likely only get stronger. April feeders are up $2.47 at $363.92, May feeders are up $2.00 at $361.82 and August feeders are up $2.57 at $360.37. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is also rallying into Monday's noon hour as traders are pleased to see midday pork cutout values up again and the market is keeping with the upward trend established last week. June lean hogs are up $0.22 at $106.35, July lean hogs are up $0.32 at $109.15 and August lean hogs are up $0.32 at $108.85. Helping drive the midday carcass price higher is mostly the $3.74 jump in the picnic, and then the $2.28 increase in the belly. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/27/2026 is down $0.42 at $90.76 and the actual index for 3/26/2026 is down $0.29 at $91.18. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 1,355 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $90.91. Pork cutouts totaled 121.98 loads with 105.22 loads of pork cuts and 16.76 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.89, $98.45. ** Please join DTN on March 31, 2026, as we recap the USDA Prospective Plantings and quarterly Grain Stocks reports, and discuss what these new estimates could mean for crop prices ahead of the 2026 planting season and beyond. Sign up here: https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fag.dtn.com%2F2 6-grain-stocks-wbr-march&data=05%7C02%7CCheri.Zagurski%40dtn.com%7Cad0ac5bcd8b54 db6746208de8b5d66ef%7Cd945da26f07f451496e79b8f78a743d0%7C0%7C0%7C639101430456913 574%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJX aW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Wd19Xqzd4pFSFPsAB4qz eepJ5O4uLFSeGHkw5hHYb9I%3D&reserved=0. ** ShayLe Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2026 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved. |
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