Market News
Midday cash livestock meetings
Direct cash cattle trade activity is off to a quiet start to the week. Bids and asking prices are not established. The bulk of this week’s business will likely develop midweek or later. It was another wild week for cash business. Live deals had a wide range – from $110 to $120 in most areas, with Texas ranging from $100 to $120. Dressed deals ranged from $170 to $190 in Nebraska and $158 to $190 in Iowa. It will be interesting to see if this week follows suit with another round of unpredictable business.
Boxed beef values continued their slide as both Choice and Select opened sharply lower on light demand for heavy offerings at midday. Choice is $17.13 lower at $417.19 and Select is $25.25 lower at $393.81. The Choice/Select spread is $23.38.
At the open, at the Joplin Regional Stockyard, compared to last week steer and heifer calves are steady. So far, yearlings are not well tested. The USDA says demand is moderate to good and supply is moderate. Receipts are up on the week and down on the year. Feeder supply is 43 percent steers and 19 percent of the offering is over 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 551 to 598 pounds range from $155 to $159 and feeder steers 665 to 684 pounds ranged from $142 to $148. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 502 to 547 pounds brought $127 to $139 and feeder heifers 590 to 592 pounds brought $130 to $138.
Cash hogs opened steady with fairly strong negotiated numbers. Processors have been increasing their daily slaughter capacity and that’s helping to relieve some of the pressure in the hog market, but there’s still a long way to go before the industry can work its way through the backlog of barrows and gilts. It’s a balancing act as packers try to juggle the ample supply of market-ready hogs with the available shackle space. The industry remains optimistic domestic demand will bounce back as the nation starts to reopen and there’s still opportunity for US pork to help meet the world’s pork and protein needs as global protein supplies are still short as a result of African swine fever. Barrows and gilts at the National Daily Direct are $.16 lower with a base range of $35 to $38.01 for a weighted average of $36.90; the Eastern Corn Belt had no comparison but a weighted average of $37.08. The Iowa/Minnesota and the Western Corn Belt were not reported due to confidentiality, but both have a five-day rolling average of $36.90.
Butcher hog prices at the Midwest cash markets are steady at $20.
Pork values opened weak – down $.32 at $109.80. Picnics were down nearly $9 at midday. Butts and bellies were also lower. Hams, ribs, and loins were all higher.
