Market News

Cattle futures under pressure to start the trading week

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle were lower ahead of the week’s direct cash business.  Feeders had additional pressure from the higher move in corn.  February lives closed $.72 lower at $157 and April lives closed $.80 lower at $160.10.  March feeders closed $1.57 lower at $181.30 and April feeders closed $1.17 lower at $185.87.  

Direct cash cattle trade is off to another slow start.  Packer inquiry has been limited. Early asking prices surfaced at $158 live in the South, while the North was quiet.  Business will likely follow recent weeks, with significant trade volume taking place sometime Thursday or Friday. 

At the Joplin Regional Stockyards in Missouri, feeder steers were $2 to $4 lower.  Feeder heifers were steady to $2 higher.  The USDA says supply was heavy with good demand.  Receipts were down slightly on the week and up on the year.  Feeder supply included 62% steers and 56% of the offering was over 600 pounds.  Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 600 to 649 pounds brought $183 to $195 and feeder steers 700 to 745 pounds brought $180 to $192.50.  Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 551 to 549 pounds brought $172 to $179 and feeder heifers 650 to 696 pounds brought $165 to $175.50. 

Boxed beef closed lower on light demand for moderate offerings.  Choice closed $.77 lower at $276.66 and Select closed $2.02 lower at $254.53.  The Choice/Select spread is $22.13. Estimated cattle slaughter was 128,000 head – up 1,000 on the week and up 10,000 on the year. 

Lean hog futures closed mostly higher on spread trade and oversold signals.  February lean hogs closed $.20 lower at $78.45 and April lean hogs closed $.85 higher at $88.12. 

Cash hogs closed mostly lower with a light negotiated run.  The cash hog market has continued to struggle to find support.  While there’s some optimism that demand could see a spike as pork remains a good buy at the retail level, the market, overall, has shown some weakness.  Demand for US pork has also remained relatively strong on the global market, and while that is expected to continue, there are concerns economic slowdowns could pressure demand and push prices lower. Barrows and gilts at the National Daily Direct closed $.22 higher with a base range of $65 to $74 and a weighted average of $71.39; the Iowa/Minnesota closed $.36 lower with a weighted average of $71.90; the Western Corn Belt closed $.34 lower with a weighted average of $72.35.  Prices at the Eastern Corn Belt were not reported due to confidentiality. 

Butcher hog prices at the Midwest cash markets are steady at $56. At Illinois, slaughter sow prices were $1 lower with moderate demand for moderate offerings at $30 to $44.  Barrows and gilts were steady with moderate demand for moderate offerings at $54 to $64.  Boars ranged from $15 to $20 and $10 to $13. 

Pork values closed lower – down $3.15 at $77.44.  Bellies and butts are sharply lower.  Picnics were lower.  Ribs and hams were higher. Estimated hog slaughter was 487,000 head – up 29,000 on the week and up 19,000 on the year.