By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
March corn closed down 1 3/4 cents per bushel at $4.40 1/2 and May closed down 2 1/4 cents per bushel at $4.48 1/2. January soybeans closed down 3 1/4 cents at $10.46 1/4 and March soybeans were down 1 1/4 cents at $10.62 1/4. March KC wheat closed down 5 1/4 cents at $5.22, March Chicago wheat was down 2 1/4 cents at $5.10 3/4 and March Minneapolis wheat was down 0.01 cents at $5.785.
Corn and wheat continued to build on Monday's surprising weakness while soybeans traded both sides before fading and were unaffected by a new flash sale to China and rumors of more in the works. Soybean product markets were mixed in quiet trade.
LIVESTOCK:
Following Monday's weaker close, the live cattle complex was higher as traders remain optimistic about the year to come. As we know now more than ever, managing risk remains a critical part of the cattle business and volatility is always looming; but there's still much to be excited about in the cattle sector as the calendar looks ahead to 2026. Still no developments have surfaced in the fed cash cattle market.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.82 ($348.51) and select up $0.06 ($345.68) with a movement of 93 loads (63.14 loads of choice, 11.25 loads of select, 9.65 loads of trim and 8.83 loads of ground beef).
Upon seeing the live cattle complex trading higher, the feeder cattle contracts have elected to up their game as most of the contracts were trading $2.00 to $3.00 higher into Tuesday's close. The market has plenty of upward potential as the contracts have already broken through the resistance at the 100-day moving average.
The lean hog complex was also higher as traders are no longer up against immediate resistance pressure and the contracts were feeling some spillover support from the cattle sectors' ambitious trade activity.