Livestock — COT Reports

Livestock COT reports track positioning in Live Cattle, Feeder Cattle and Lean Hog futures on the CME. The cattle market is shaped by multi-year herd cycles, corn input costs and domestic beef demand, while hogs respond to Chinese pork imports, seasonal grilling patterns and herd liquidation cycles. Commercial hedgers (packers like JBS and Tyson, feedlot operators and producers) dominate the market, and their positioning tracks real slaughter and production expectations. Speculative flows in livestock are smaller than in grains or energy, which makes the COT Index particularly useful for spotting when fund positioning has reached historically extreme levels.