Written Commentary
MORNING LIVESTOCK FUTURES OUTLOOK
LIVE CATTLE COMPLEX
Over the past week, October live cattle settled the week $7.37 under the 5 day negotiated steer price. Slaughter was also light. The question for today, will traders use the prospects for a larger increase of imported beef that is expected to lower beef prices and add to the supply of beef or will they use a friendly Cattle on Feed report?
Restaurants are seeing less business in 2026 as people are spending more on home food costs and higher gas prices.
High diesel prices are costing feedlots more to deliver cattle and packers more to deliver beef. So far, consumers aren’t seeing cheaper beef prices with increasing imports. Ground beef for 2026 is up 4.3% in 2026 compared to 2025. Ground beef in August 2026 was up .06 cents compared to July 2026.
LEAN HOG COMPLEX
Packer margins are negative. Unless margins improve, packers will kill the bare minimum just enough to meet orders for pork.
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