DTN Midday Livestock Comments          02/18 11:41

   Cattle Trade Mixed While Hogs Head Higher

   Following Tuesday's rally, the cattle complex is trading mixed, longing to 
see continued fundamental support.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The livestock complex is trading mixed into midday Wednesday as the market 
is trading cautiously in the cattle sector but has stumbled into some technical 
support in the hog complex. Still no cash cattle trade has developed. March 
corn is steady and March soybean meal is down $2.20. The Dow Jones Industrial 
Average is up 309.55 points and the NASDAQ is up 282.78 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   After rallying to highs not seen since October, the live cattle complex is 
now trading mostly lower as traders look for reassurance from the market's 
fundamentals. February live cattle are down $0.37 at $246.17, April live cattle 
are down $0.30 at $242.50 and June live cattle are down $0.05 at $238.40. The 
cash cattle market remains absolutely silent, with no bids or asking prices 
having been noted yet. It's most likely that trade will be delayed until Friday 
again this week, and it is assumed that fed cash cattle prices will be higher 
again this week.

   Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.26 ($363.50) and select up $0.99 
($361.21) with a movement of 58 loads (43.87 loads of choice, 6.35 loads of 
select, zero loads of trim and 8.12 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle complex is trading slightly more optimistically into 
midday Wednesday than the live cattle complex, as its contracts are trading 
mixed. Helping keep the feeder cattle contracts elevated is the strong demand 
in the countryside, as buyers know that supplies are going to remain thin and 
that if they want to fill their orders, they have to buy aggressively. March 
feeders are down $0.20 at $370.77, April feeders are up $0.02 at $367.85 and 
May feeders are up $0.35 at $364.15.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is trading fully higher into Wednesday's noon hour as 
the market is pleased to have found some technical support after its straining 
downturn over the last week. April lean hogs are up $0.20 at $92.50, June lean 
hogs are up $0.72 at $106.57 and July lean hogs are up $0.72 at $108.45. 
Fundamental support remains lagging, and traders will eventually desire to see 
more support in pork demand.

   The projected lean hog index for 2/17/2026 is up $0.05 at $87.19 and the 
actual index for 2/16/2026 is up $0.08 at $87.13. Hog prices are again 
unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. 
However, we can see that only 855 head have traded and that the market's 
five-day rolling average now sits at $87.00. Pork cutouts totaled 174.46 loads 
with 155.43 loads of pork cuts and 19.03 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: 
down $0.25, $95.63.

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




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