Market News

Midday cash livestock markets

Cattle country is very quiet on Friday and we probably won’t see much post-holiday traffic. There could be a few cleanup deals here and there near the top of Wednesday’s price range. Cattle sold from 163.00 to 164.00 live and 258.00 to 259.00 dressed, sharply higher. But business seems to be essentially done for the week. Wednesday’s trade was moderate to fairly active in Nebraska with 25,000 to 30,000 head.

Boxed beef cutout values in the morning report are .67 higher at 244.61, and select is up .72 at 235.91.

There are no feeder cattle sales to report due to the holidays..

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade are 1.21 lower and the West is down 1.19 with both at 74.12 weighted average on a carcass basis. Eastern hogs are not reported due to confidentiality. Nationally the direct hog market is 1.68 lower at 72.96.The Missouri direct base carcass meat price is 2.00 lower with light interest at 71.00. In the Midwest cash market only Peoria is open with steady prices from 49.50 to 50.00 on a live basis.

Even if next spring’s hog slaughter turned out to be 5%-6% above 2014 as the December 1 report seems to imply it will still remain 5%-6% smaller than 2013.

The pork carcass cutout value is down .25 at 87.14.

Ham prices collapsed Wednesday into the upper $60 area. Additional weakness is expected to carry-over into next week before interest regarding Easter hams begins to pick up in early January, supporting higher prices.