Feeder cattle futures hit multi-month highs on tight supplies - CME
Lean hog futures rally to contract highs on demand, disease risks
16 January 2026
1 minute read
By: Benchmark lean hog futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) reached their highest level since October on Thursday and contracts for deferred delivery set life-of-contract highs, buoyed by brisk demand for pork and threats to production from hog diseases, Reuters reported, citing analysts.
Front-month February hog futures settled up 2.100 cents at 87.800 cents per pound after reaching 87.900 cents, the contract's highest since October 9. April, June and July hogs set contract highs.
Diseases circulating in US hog operations threaten to curb pork production, said Don Roose, president of Iowa-based US Commodities, even though the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) in a quarterly report last month said the US hog herd was 1% larger than a year earlier.
"The hog market continues to be focused on disease issues.... While you talk about bigger (herd) numbers, the disease problems are the great equalizer," Roose said.
Meanwhile, demand for US pork has been decent domestically and in the export market, Roose said, noting that dietary guidelines released this month by the administration of US President Donald Trump recommended that Americans eat more protein.
The USDA reported export sales of US pork in the week to Jan. 8 at 26,800 metric tons, with Mexico the top buyer of 9,200 tons.
The USDA priced pork carcasses on Thursday at $93.60 per hundredweight, up $2.31 from Wednesday.
In the cattle markets, CME feeder cattle futures hit their highest since October, while live cattle futures firmed in range-bound trade.
Feeder cattle supplies remain tight given the ongoing US suspension of cattle imports from Mexico due to the spread of New World screwworm, a parasite, south of the border.
CME March feeder cattle futures settled up 4.850 cents at 364.550 cents per pound after reaching 364.675 cents, a multi-month high. February live cattle futures ended up 0.900 cent at 236.050 cents per pound, but stayed inside of Wednesday's trading range.
