Market News

Livestock futures close lower

Monday’s cash cattle business was limited to the distribution of this week’s showlists. Bids and asking prices are not yet established. The new offering appears to be mostly higher in Kansas, Nebraska, and Texas, but lower in Colorado, Some packers will be starting the new week short bought after last week’s light trade. The kill totaled 114,000 head. 3.000 more than last week, and 6.000 greater than a year ago.

Boxed beef cutout values were steady on choice and higher on select on light to moderate demand and moderate to heavy offerings. Choice boxed beef is up .23 at 187.04, and select .84 higher at 179.65.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled.45 to .80 lower but off the triple digit losses seen earlier in the session. The softness in the cash cattle trade last week combined with the concern that additional supplies of cattle available to the market in the future caused many traders to once again back away from the futures trade.

Feeder cattle ended .77 to 1.95 lower due to the combination of outside market pressure and increased placements of feeder cattle in feed yards in August created aggressive selling pressure Monday.

At the Joplin, Missouri Regional Stockyards today, feeder cattle receipts totaled 3,500 head. Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves and yearlings were steady to 4.00 lower. Demand and supply was moderate. The demand was best for weaned calves and yearlings with good weighing conditions. Feeder steers medium and large 1 weighing 550 to 600 pounds brought 130.00 to 150.75 per hundredweight. Heifers’ weighing 550 to 600 pounds traded from 116.00 to 133.00.

Lean hogs settled .22 to .55 lower as traders remained range bound between contract lows and the inability to break above short-term resistance levels based on the lack of fundamental and technical support.

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed .81 lower at 50.93 weighted average on a carcass basis, the West was down .40 at 50.89, and nationally the market was .50 lower at 50.38. Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady to 3.00 lower from 46.00 to 47.00. Midwest hogs on a live basis were 1.00 to 3.00 lower from 29.00 to 36.00.

The pork carcass cutout value was up 1.69 at 78.61 FOB plant.

Last week’s hog slaughter totaled 2,466,000 head, up 4.8 percent from the previous week, and 8 percent higher than 2015 and the third largest weekly kill ever. It is remarkably early in the fall for such a huge slaughter number.

The Monday hog kill was estimated by USDA at 441,000 head, the same as last week, but 13,000 more than last year.