Market News

A solid start to the week for cattle futures

At the CME, live and feeder cattle ended the day higher, supported by the recent trend in beef and Friday’s Cattle on Feed and biannual Cattle Inventory numbers.  August live cattle closed $1.95 higher at $123.45 and October live cattle closed $2.05 higher at $129.20.  August feeder cattle closed $2.12 higher at $162.20 and September feeder cattle closed $2.30 higher at $164.82.  

A quiet start to the week for direct cash cattle trade activity.  Bids and asking prices have yet to surface.  Showlists this week appear to be somewhat higher in Texas, higher in Kansas, but lower in Nebraska/Colorado.  Look for business to pick up over the balance of the week.  

At midsession at the Oklahoma National Stockyards, compared to last week, feeder steers and heifers are $2 to $5 higher.  Steer calves were $4 to $6 higher and heifer calves are $1 to $4 higher.  The USDA says demand was moderate to good.  Receipts are up on the week and the year.  Feeder supply induced 70% steers and 79% of the offering was over 600 pounds.  Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 809 to 846 pounds brought $143 to $158.50 and feeder steers 915 to 931 pounds brought $141.75 to $149.25.  Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 601 to 643 pounds brought $137 to $161 and feeder heifers 818 to 848 pounds brought $133.50 to $144.  

Boxed beef ended the day higher on good demand for moderate offerings.    Choice up $1.30 at $267.93 and Select closed $.98 higher at $25.92.  The Choice/Select spread is $17.  Estimated cattle slaughter is 119,000 head – up 4,000 on the week and up 2,000 on the year.  Friday’s cattle slaughter has been revised to 110,000 head.  

Lean hog futures ended the day mixed on spread adjustments and the modestly higher midday pork.  August lean hogs closed $.05 higher at $107.40 and October lean hogs closed $.47 higher at $93.10. 

Cash hogs ended the day higher with a solid negotiated run.  Processors bid up to move their desired numbers to start the week.  Strong demand for US pork on the global market and domestically remains largely supportive to prices.  The industry does expect that to continue.  However, if there was a disruption to demand, prices would likely tumble. Barrows and gilts at the National Daily Direct closed $1.40 higher with a base range of $103 to $109 and a weighted average of $105.99; the Iowa/Minnesota had a weighted average of $108.64; the Western Corn Belt had a weighted average of $108.41.  The Eastern Corn Belt was not reported due to confidentiality.  

Butcher hog prices at the Midwest cash markets are steady with last week at $75. At Illinois, slaughter sow prices were $4 higher with good demand for moderate offerings at $64 to $80.  Barrow and gilt prices were 41 lower with moderate to good demand for heavy offerings at $70 to $74.  Boars ranged from $45 to $50 and $10 to $12.  

Pork values closed higher – up $.57 at $122.94.  Butts and bellies were both sharply higher.  Picnics and ribs were higher.  Hams and loins were lower.  Estimated hog slaughter is 468,000 head – up 11,000 on the week and up 12,000 on the year.