DTN Midday Livestock Comments          11/28 11:27

   Cattle Continue to Rally After the Thanksgiving Holiday

   There's been some light cash cattle trade in the South at $220, which is 
$5.00 higher than the trade that developed earlier in the week, but still $2.00 
to $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

   The rally evident throughout the cattle complex ahead of Thursday's 
Thanksgiving holiday has thankfully remained strong following the holiday 
break, as both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts are trading higher 
into midday Friday. Some light cash cattle trade is currently being reported in 
the South, where prices are marked at $220, $5.00 higher than the cattle traded 
earlier in the week, but still $2.00 to $4.00 lower than last week's weighted 
average. March corn is up 2 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down 
$2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 277.25 points and the NASDAQ is 
up 97.14 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

   The live cattle complex is still sporting a fruitful rally into Friday's 
noon hour, as traders seem to be again believing in the market's bullish 
long-term fundamentals despite plenty of volatility over the last month. 
December live cattle are up $5.00 at $216.02, February live cattle are up $5.12 
at $218.05 and April live cattle are up $5.20 at $219.45. There's some light 
cash cattle trade currently being reported in the South at $220, which is 
roughly $5.00 higher than the business that developed earlier in the week, but 
still $2.00 to $4.00 lower than last week's weighted average. No new dressed 
cattle trade has developed at this point. Earlier in the week, Northern dressed 
cattle were trading at mostly $330, which is $13.00 lower than last week's 
weighted average.

   Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.39 ($366.89) and select down 
$5.13 ($350.38) with a movement of 60 loads (46.58 loads of choice, 2.89 loads 
of select, 5.35 loads of trim and 4.79 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

   The feeder cattle contracts are seeing the biggest day of gains as some of 
the contracts are up their daily trading limit, up $9.25. Helping spur this 
positive momentum was the interview shared with Agriculture Secretary Brooke 
Rollins, where she discussed several important issues, such as the border. The 
main points she stated about the border's reopening (when it does happen) are 
that not all of the ports will reopen at once, and that it will be a slow and 
methodical process, and the market will not see a million imported cattle show 
up overnight, which was a major relief to hear. January feeders are up $9.25 at 
$324.37, March feeders are up $9.25 at $318.30 and April feeders are up $9.25 
at $316.95.

LEAN HOGS:

   The lean hog complex is trading along both sides of steady as the market 
looks for continued reassurance following Wednesday's dramatic rally. December 
lean hogs are up $0.20 at $80.62, February lean hogs are down $0.07 at $81.30 
and April lean hogs are down $0.02 at $85.32. There's been very little interest 
this week in the cash hog market, but pork cutout values are again up slightly.

   The projected lean hog index for 11/26/2025 is down $0.55 at $81.92 and the 
actual index for 11/25/2025 is down $0.54 at $82.27. Hog prices on the Daily 
Direct Morning Hog Report are unavailable again because of confidentiality. 
However, we can see that only 738 head have traded. Pork cutouts total 118.24 
loads with 106.18 loads of pork cuts and 12.06 loads of trim. Pork cutout 
values: up $0.50, $94.75.

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




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