Market News
Hog futures supported by cash business
At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live cattle were mostly higher and feeder cattle were higher watching the cash trade develop. Feeders found additional support from the day’s lower move in corn. April live cattle closed $.02 lower at $119.40 and June live cattle closed $.07 lower at $117.67. March feeder cattle closed $.47 higher at $137 and April feeder cattle closed $.82 higher at $141.30.
A light direct cash cattle trade took place on Wednesday. Deals in the North were at $180 dressed, $2 lower than last week’s weighted average basis in Nebraska. Live deals in the South were at $114 live, fully steady with the previous week’s business. Bids in other parts of cattle country surfaced around $114 live and $180 dressed. Asking prices in the South were $116 live, while the North was quiet.
At the Kingsville Livestock Auction in Missouri, compared to last week steers were uneven. Steers under 650 pounds were steady with spots of $5 higher and heavier weights were mostly $2 to $5 lower with some weight classes $5 to $8 lower when compared to the previous week’s higher market. Heifers were steady to $4 lower. There was a heavy supply of reputation cattle offered and the quality and condition was attractive. Demand was mostly good. Receipts were down slightly on the week, but up on the year. Feeder supply included 64 percent steers and 71 percent of the offering was over 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 605 to 646 pounds brought $149.50 to $162.50 and feeder steers 860 to 889 pounds brought $123.85 to $126.85. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 560 to 598 pounds brought $134.50 to $150 and feeder heifers 702 to 744 pounds brought $127 to $137.50.
Boxed beef closed lower on light demand for moderate offerings. Choice closed $1.65 lower at $233.03 and Select closed $1.93 lower at $224.24. The Choice/Select spread is $8.79. Estimated cattle slaughter is 121,000 head – even on the week and up 1,000 on the year.
Lean hog futures are supported by the recent strength in the cash market and demand optimism. April lean hogs closed $2.57 higher at $87.92 and May lean hogs closed $1.42 higher at $89.35.
Cash hogs closed higher with a solid negotiated run. Packers continue to bid up to move their desired numbers. Demand strength has been largely supportive to prices and the industry is optimistic that will continue. However, there are still lingering concerns about the heavy supplies. The availability of market-ready barrows and gilts is more than ample and daily slaughter totals continue at high levels. That adds more pork to an already saturated market. Hogs weights rose slightly this week to 287.1 pounds, that’s up 0.3 pounds on the week and up 0.8 pounds on the year. Barrows and gilts at the National Daily Direct closed $1.82 higher with a base range of $75 to $87 and a weighted average of $82.75; the Iowa/Minnesota closed $2.19 higher with a weighted average of $85.83; the Western Corn Belt closed $1.62 higher with a weighted average of $85.19; the Eastern Corn Belt was not reported due to confidentiality.
Butcher hog prices at the Midwest cash markets are steady at $52 and $50 in Dorchester, Wisconsin and Garnavillo, Iowa and $5 higher in Red Oak, Iowa at $53. At Illinois, slaughter sow prices were $2 higher with very good demand for heavy offerings at $62 to $74. Barrow and gilt prices were $1 to $2 higher with good demand for moderate to heavy offerings at $53 to $58. Boars ranged from $25 to $30 and $12 to $15.
Pork values closed sharply lower – down $3.46 at $91.41. Hams dropped $8.50 on Wednesday. Bellies, picnics, and loins were all sharply lower. Ribs and butts were higher. Estimated hog slaughter is 497,000 head – even on the week and up 1,000 on the year.
