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Cattle showlists appear to be somewhat smaller this week

The cattle kill last week totaled 590,000 head, larger than has been seen in several weeks, suggesting packers managed to somehow source plenty of cattle. If feedlot managers were forced to carryover a large number of unsold cattle, it may also be true that packers find themselves quite short bought. The new showlists appear to be mixed in size, larger in Colorado, smaller in Kansas and Nebraska and about steady in Texas. Overall the late month offering appears somewhat smaller. The Monday kill at 116,000 head, is 8,000 more than last week and steady with last year.

Boxed beef cutout values ended steady to weak on light demand and light to moderate offerings. Choice boxed beef was down .08 at 249.69 and select was .59 lower at 239.07.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled 90 to 145 points higher. Aggressive live cattle buying quickly developed in the futures market on Monday. Follow through buying and short covering were the main features. With triple digit gains holding into the close, there was expectation additional buyer support may continue to develop through the first half of the week. The August contract expired at noon at 152.75 up .90, October was 1.15 higher at 148.15.

Feeder cattle settled 130 to 247 higher. Strong triple digit gains held through the feeder cattle complex with traders embracing the tightest supply of cattle available in the market. The expectation is supplies will continue to tighten through the end of the year, which could limit long term beef demand even further than seen already, August went off the board 1.30 higher at 217.40, and September settled at 213.27 up 2.37.

Feeder cattle receipts at the Oklahoma National Stockyards on Monday totaled 5200 head. Compared to last week, all classes of feeder cattle and calves traded steady in the early rounds. Demand was called moderate to good. Feeder steer calves medium and large 1 weighing 575 pounds brought 252.00 per hundredweight. 545 pound heifer calves traded at 244.50.

Lean hogs settled 57 to 110 higher as strong gains redeveloped throughout the morning with triple digit gains in deferred 2015 contract months. Nearby gains were somewhat limited by a lack of additional direction from market fundamentals. October settled .57 higher at 93.145 and December was up .85 at 88.00.

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed 1.02 lower with a weighted average of 94.17 on a carcass basis. The West was down .89 at 94.11, and Eastern markets were 1.88 lower at 92.34. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady to 8.00 lower from 86.00 to 95.00.

The pork carcass cutout value ended .92 lower at 102.69 FOB plant.

The monthly cold storage report released on Friday indicated slower June-to-July drawdown for both frozen pork and beef than expected. This may represent another sign of weakening red meat demand.

The Monday hog slaughter was estimated at 414,000 head, 12,000 more than last week, but 12,000 less than last year.

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