Market News

Lean hog futures continue slide

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle futures were lower on spillover from feeders, lackluster boxed beef, and lower direct cash trade. August was down $.52 at $112.72 and October was $.82 lower at $108.90.

Feeder cattle were mostly lower on technical selling, with several contracts breaking through what had been short term support. Soon to expire August, the only contract to finish in the black, was up $.20 at $146.65 and September was down $.92 at $143.00.

Light to moderate direct cash cattle business developed by Wednesday afternoon. Live trade was mostly at $115, down $3 on the week, with a few at $115.50 in western Nebraska. Dressed business was at $181 to $182, $5 to $6 lower than last week’s weighted average in Nebraska. There were some live bids reported at $114 to $115. It remains to be seen how much trade is left to be done this week.

Boxed beef closed narrowly mixed on light to moderate demand and moderate offerings. Choice was down $.07 at $200.32 and Select was up $.07 at $193.73. The estimated slaughter of 113,000 head was steady with last week and up 5,000 from last year.

At the Hub City Livestock Auction in Aberdeen, South Dakota, there was no trend reported. The USDA says that’s because there were different weight classes traded this week and the previous test two weeks ago. Demand was good to very good with an active market and many in attendance. Most of the offering was attractive quality with flesh called light to moderate plus. Value added steers qualified as drug free and NHTC programs. Steers were 52% of the run and the entire offering weighed more than 600 pounds. A load of 855 pound value added feeder steers brought $150.25 and 900 to 1,000 pound feeder steers sold at $126.50 to $142.90. 800 to 900 pound feeder heifers were reported at $128.75 to $136.25, with 900 to 970 pounders at $124 to $136.

Lean hog futures were lower on the lower direct cash hog business, inconsistent wholesale demand, and a lack of fresh buying interest. That lack of buying interest is despite most contracts’ discount to the cash index and overbought indicators. October was $.20 lower at $60.32 and December was down $.47 at $56.05.

Cash hog markets were mixed, mostly lower, with the major direct markets not finding resistance to lower bids. Market ready numbers are ample and it looks like many buyers are pulling supplies ahead. For the week ending August 20th, the average Iowa/Southern Minnesota hog weight of 274.7 pounds was up a tenth of a pound on the week, but down 2.5 on the year. Iowa/Southern Minnesota barrows and gilts closed $.63 lower with a weighted average of $62.57, the Western Cornbelt was down $.62 at $62.57, the Eastern Cornbelt was called unchanged at $61.51, and National direct trade was $.55 lower at $62.19. Butcher hogs at the Midwest cash market were steady to $1 higher at $37 to $41. Missouri direct butchers were steady at $54 to $60 on light to moderate supply and demand. Missouri sows were steady to $2 higher at $40 to $51. Illinois direct sows were mostly steady at $42 to 55, with boars ranging from $11 to $25.

The pork carcass cutout value closed $.10 lower at $75.61. Ribs were down sharply and bellies were a penny lower, while the other primals were up modestly. The estimated slaughter of 435,000 head was up 4,000 head on the week and 7,000 on the year.

The USDA’s red meat production numbers are out Thursday at 3 PM Eastern/2 PM Central.