Hogs

• Lean hog futures pushed higher on Friday. July through December saw the largest strength, with July thru April posting new contract highs.  
• Both cash and cutout supported the strength in the futures. The national cash price pushed up $1.49, while the cutout gained $2.20.  It is not likely packers will be as aggressive as the week draws closer to the end. 
• Cutout saw good strength in ham and bellies.  After posting its high so far for the year on Friday, Ham’s remain -$2.26 for the week.  Bellies are trading $4.52 lower than the high of they year made back at the end of February.  From a seasonal perspective, later summer typically sees the greater strength in both cuts.
• Hog slaughter continues to run ahead of last week and last year.  Hog weights are seasonally declining, running below last year.
• Exports  Pork: Net sales of 9,700 MT for 2025 were down 73 percent from the previous week and 70 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for Japan (3,600 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), Canada (1,900 MT, including decreases of 300 MT), Colombia (1,400 MT), South Korea (900 MT, including decreases of 500 MT), and China (700 MT, including decreases of 400 MT), were offset by reductions for Mexico (1,200 MT) and Honduras (600 MT).

GRAINS

• Overnight US stocks are lower. Crude oil is lower at 66.87. US Dollar is lower. Gold is higher. Chicago wheat is up a penny; Corn is up 1; Soybeans are down 3 1/2; Soymeal is up $2.3; Soyoil is down .20 cents.
• Crude oil and gasoline prices rallied sharply on Wednesday, with crude posting a 2-1/4 month high and gasoline posting a 3-week high. Crude prices surged to their highs when Reuters reported that the US embassy in Iraq is preparing to be evacuated because of risking security risks. Iraq is the 2^nd largest OPEC producer. Tensions in the region have increased this week as talks between the US and Iran over its advancing nuclear program appear to have hit an impasse. President Trump said Wednesday that he's "less confident" about convincing Iran to shut down its nuclear program, which could limit global oil supplies as export restrictions on Iranian crude are kept in place.
• June WASDE report comes out today, will be interesting to see if we have some market moving action based off that today.
• StoneX estimates are above for corn whether they have an increased carryout for new crop corn by 325 million bushels.
• Exports Pork: Net sales of 9,700 MT for 2025 were down 73 percent from the previous week and 70 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for Japan (3,600 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), Canada (1,900 MT, including decreases of 300 MT), Colombia (1,400 MT), South Korea (900 MT, including decreases of 500 MT), and China (700 MT, including decreases of 400 MT), were offset by reductions for Mexico (1,200 MT) and Honduras (600 MT).
• Exports Soybeans: Net sales of 61,400 MT for 2024/2025--a marketing-year low--were down 68 percent from the previous week and 74 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for Indonesia (69,400 MT, including 55,000 MT switched from unknown destinations and decreases of 300 MT), Egypt (58,500 MT, including decreases of 1,500 MT), the Netherlands (57,100 MT, including 60,000 MT switched from unknown destinations and decreases of 2,900 MT), Algeria (42,000 MT, including 48,000 MT switched from unknown destinations and decreases of 6,000 MT), and Japan (41,100 MT, including 88,400 MT switched from unknown destination and decreases of 100 MT), were offset by reductions for unknown destinations (260,700 MT) and Mexico (11,200 MT). Net sales of 58,100 MT for 2025/2026 were primarily for Taiwan (19,500 MT), Japan (19,400 MT), Thailand (16,700 MT), the Philippines (1,000 MT), and Vietnam (600 MT).
• Ethanol production for the week ending June 6^th was up 1.4% from the week prior as well as up 9.5% from last year.  Stocks decreased from last week by 2.9%, however remain elevated, above last year at this time by 2.2%  Estimated corn used for production was 113 million bushels, greater than the 97.61 million needed to meet the USDA estimate.  

CATTLE

• Cattle futures moved lower on Wednesday.  The trade seemed to be focused on waiting to see how cash was going to develop as we close out the week.
• Slaughter for the week so far is down from prior week by 4.5% so far on the week as slaughter continues to slow.  The slower slaughter pace so far doesn’t seem to have caused an issue holding the cattle back longer.  Lower grain and input costs allow for feeders to continue to feed cattle longer and heavier.
• A major plant experienced waste water issues yesterday evening that disrupted production but that is expected to be cleared up soon, however the lost hours are not expected to be made up because packing margins remain red.
• Cutout continued to move higher on Wednesday with both cuts posting gains, aided by the small slaughter this week and the plans for more of the same next.  Consumers seemingly continue to purchase beef and doing so at higher prices. 
• A few cattle traded in Texas at $235 but more traded in Kansas at $238-$240. No trades are reported in the north with sharply higher asking prices.
• Exports Beef: Net sales of 15,300 MT for 2025 were up 71 percent from the previous week and 21 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases primarily for South Korea (6,100 MT, including decreases of 400 MT), Japan (3,200 MT, including decreases of 200 MT), Mexico (2,700 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), Taiwan (2,100 MT, including decreases of 100 MT), and Canada (1,400 MT, including decreases of 200 MT), were offset by reductions for China (2,000 MT).

WEATHER

• In the Midwest, a slow-moving front will provide some areas of heavier rainfall to the northwest Corn Belt Wednesday into Thursday with another system moving through on Friday. Precipitation is expected to linger in the eastern Midwest this weekend. While southern areas stay on the drier side into the end of the week, more rainfall is expected by the weekend. Overall, the pattern looks active next week as well, favorable for building soil moisture in northwest areas but unfavorable for those trying to get fieldwork done.
• In Brazil a drier stretch of weather across most of the main growing areas starts on Tuesday and is expected to linger into Friday before a larger system develops late this week into the weekend across southern areas. The potential for heavy rain this weekend threatens the harvest pace but wheat could use more rain for establishment.