Hog futures fall on tariff worries, technical selling - CME

Mar 17, 2025

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) lean hog futures edged down on Thursday under pressure from technical selling and worries that US President Donald Trump's tariff war could hurt export demand, Reuters reported, citing analysts.

The European Union announced has a plan to impose duties on US imports, including on poultry and meat products.

"The market is worried about what will happen with the EU," Doug Houghton, analyst at Brock Associates, said.

CME's April lean hog contract settled down 0.875-cent to 85.625 cents per pound.

Live and feeder cattle futures spent the day chopping up and down as a lack of fresh news provided little direction for the futures.

CME April live cattle rose 0.65-cent at 202.05 cents per pound. CME April feeder cattle futures settled down 0.75-cent to 279.975 cents per pound.

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.