Noticed lean hog futures took a hit recently. The nearby contracts dropped 47 cents to $1.40 while back months saw smaller moves, mostly gains of 7-32 cents. Seems like export demand is cooling off a bit - pork sales came in at 36,103 MT for the week, which was down 15.3% from the prior week. Mexico's still the main buyer but the numbers are softer overall.

USDA had the national base hog price at $89.74, and the CME Lean Hog Index was sitting at $90.18. The pork carcass cutout value actually moved up 60 cents to $99.22 per cwt, so there's some strength there even as lean hogs futures are pulling back. Slaughter estimates came in at 491,000 head for the day.

Lean hogs have been technically strong on the charts, but this weakness in the contract prices and the softer export picture suggest traders are getting a bit cautious. The back months are holding better than the front month, which is typical when there's near-term uncertainty. Worth watching how export demand plays out over the next couple weeks.