Market News

Lean hogs higher on cash and wholesale support

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, both live and feeder cattle futures closed lower as live cattle continued to sell off contracts and feeder cattle futures saw profit-taking.  With today’s low trade volume, the moves looked more drastic than they really were.  The market is still looking for direction from cash cattle and traders are also looking ahead to Friday’s Cattle-on-Feed report.  October live cattle closed $1.10 lower at $111.72 and December live cattle closed $.30 lower at $116.82.

October feeder cattle closed $.05 lower at $154.00 and November feeder cattle closed $.45 lower at $154.55.

Direct cash cattle trade is quiet today with action limited to the distribution of new showlists.  Ready numbers look to be generally smaller than last week with just Kansas offering a few more steers and heifers.  Both bids and asking prices are poorly defined.  Don’t look for that to change until Wednesday or even later.

Boxed beef closed firm with a higher undertone on moderate demand and light offerings.  Choice closed $.59 higher at $198.81 and Select closed $.52 higher at $190.57.

At midsession at the Joplin Regional Stockyards in Missouri receipts were down on the week.  Compared to the previous week’s sale steer calves and yearlings are steady to $3.00 higher and heifer calves are $3.00 to $5.00 lower.  The USDA says demand is moderate to good and supply is moderate.  Feeder supply included 50 percent steers and 38 percent of the offering was over 600 pounds.  Feeder steers, Medium and Large 1’s 500 to 600 pounds are $146.50 to $175.00 and Medium and Large 1’s 700 to 800 pounds are $152.00 to $164.00.  Feeder heifers, Medium and Large 1’s 500 to 600 pounds are $135.00 to $153.00 and Medium and Large 1’s 700 to 800 pounds are $140.00 to $140.50.

Estimated cattle slaughter is 110,000 head, down 5, 000 on the week and 4,000 on the year.

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, lean hogs closed higher as traders capitalized on stabilizing cash and pork values.  Both the strong buyer activity in the nearby contract and the positive move in the wholesale value were supportive of today’s trade.  December lean hogs closed $1.50 higher at $63.60 and February lean hogs closed $.85 higher at $68.30.

Cash hogs closed higher. Packers are focused on moving market ready numbers. And as long as margins remain strong and the supply holds steady don’t look for a significant slowdown in daily kill totals anytime soon.

Barrows and gilts at the Iowa/Southern Minnesota closed $1.02 higher with a range of $53.00 to $60.75 and an average of $59.35; the Western Corn Belt closed $.99 higher with a range of $53.00 to $60.75 and an average of $59.34; the Eastern Corn Belt was not reported due to confidentiality; and the National Daily Direct closed $.82 higher with a range of $53.00 to $60.75 and an average of $58.41.

Butcher hogs at the Midwest cash markets are steady to $1.00 higher at $35.00 to $40.00.

At the Interior Missouri Direct, compared to Friday’s closed barrows and gilts are steady at $44.00 to $49.00.  The USDA says supply and demand are light to moderate.  Sows are steady, with sows under 500 pounds $23.00 to $26.00 and sows over 500 pounds $26.00 to $30.00.

At Illinois, slaughter sows are $2.00 higher at $25.00 to $34.00.  The USDA says demand was moderate to good for light to moderate offerings.  Barrows and gilts are $1.00 higher at $36.00 to $41.00 with moderate to good demand for moderate offerings.

Pork ended the day higher – up $.81 at $75.25.  The primals were mixed, but included a $4.51 jump in the loin and a $2.21 drop in the belly.

Estimated hog slaughter is 446,000 head – down 17,000 on the week and up 5,000 on the year.