Market News
At mid-week cattle, hog futures mostly higher
At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live cattle ended the day mixed, mostly higher on spread adjustments. Feeder cattle were mostly higher on follow-through buying, the sharply higher wholesale values during the session, and the day’s weaker move in corn. June live cattle closed $1.02 higher at $84.82 and August live cattle were unchanged at $89.52. May feeder cattle closed $.72 higher at $115.57 and August feeder cattle closed $.37 higher at $126.72.
Direct cash cattle trade activity is at a standstill. Bids are few and far between with the only bid at $150 dressed. Asking prices are at $108 to $110 live and $168 dressed. Business is expected to be limited this week, and it’s likely it may wait until sometime Thursday or Friday to develop. The Fed Cattle Exchange has delayed its auction until Friday morning.
At the Kingsville Livestock Auction in Missouri, compared to last week, steers and heifers sold mostly steady. The USDA says supply was light, but a couple of loads of 860-pound reputation steers were offered along with some quality strings of home-raised cattle. Demand was moderate. Receipts were down on the week and the year. Feeder supply included 59 percent steers and 57 percent of the offering was over 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 686 to 695 pounds brought $127 to $138 and feeder steers 861 to 864 pounds brought $118.50 to $118.85. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 514 to 519 pounds brought $135.25 to $139.50 and feeder heifers 608 to 649 pounds brought $126 to $132.
Boxed beef closed sharply higher on good demand and light offerings. Select and Choice round cuts were steady to firm, while rib, chuck, and loin cuts were firm to higher. Choice closed $3.86 higher at $230.53 and Select closed $6.45 higher at $222.22.
Estimated cattle slaughter is 93,000 head – down 9,000 on the week and down 28,000 on the year.
Lean hog futures ended the day mixed, mostly higher on spread adjustments. May lean hogs closed $1.45 higher at $39.45 and June lean hogs closed $.67 higher at $44.62.
Cash hogs closed steady to lower with moderate negotiated numbers. Cash hog prices remain pressured as supplies of market-ready hogs are more than ample and slaughter capacity has been restricted because of COVID-19 related shutdowns and processing slow-downs. The pork sector is struggling to move those hogs and it’s backing up supplies at the farm level. The industry is desperate for some positive news, and right now it’s the potential for increased exports onto the global market. Global protein supplies are still short and as long as the US pork sector doesn’t see any major disruptions, it is still in good position to meet the world’s pork and protein needs. All eyes will be on Thursday morning’s Export Sales report from the USDA. Barrows and gilts at the National Daily Direct closed $1.36 lower with a base range of $32 to $35 for a weighted average of $34.08; the Iowa/Minnesota closed $.31 lower for a weighted average of $34.06; the Western Corn Belt closed $.09 lower for a weighted average of $34.08.
Butcher hog prices in Dorchester, Wisconsin are steady at $27. The market in Garnavillo, Iowa is closed this week.
Pork values closed lower – down $.97 at $52.10. Bellies and loins were sharply lower. Butts were lower. Hams, picnics, and ribs were higher to sharply higher. Estimated hog slaughter is 445,000 head – down 33,000 on the week and the year. Tuesday’s hog slaughter has been revised to 437,000 head.
