GENERAL COMMENTS:
The noon hour Tuesday showed some support building in the live cattle contracts, but the day closed lower for both lean hog and live cattle contracts, and modestly up for feeder cattle contracts. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.85 with a weighted average of $56.26. December corn is up 3/4 cent per bushel and December soybean meal is down $0.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 39.54 points and NASDAQ is down 58.69 points.
Tuesday's release of the September 2019 Cold Storage report showed that total red meat supplies in freezers were down 2% from the previous month and down 4% from last year. Total pounds of beef in freezers were down 1% from the previous month and down 8% from last year. Frozen pork supplies were down 1% from the previous month, but up 2% from last year. Stocks of pork bellies were down 11% from last month, but up 34% from last year.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle prices opened nearly steady with Monday's close, then danced higher to only fall back and close the day merely steady. The April 2020 contract, though only up $0.15, bolsters hope and expectations for the spring of next year and is the only current live cattle contract about $120.00. Most contracts closed $0.05 to $1.097 lower except for April 2020, December 2020 and February 2021. Cash cattle have yet to trade with no more bids or asking prices surfacing.
Closing boxed beef prices are higher: Choice up $0.80 ($220.93) and select up $3.64 ($198.08) with a boxed beef movement of 105 loads (56.85 loads of choice, 25.23 loads of select, 5.16 loads of trim and 17.44 loads of ground beef).
WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. This week is dense with USDA reports. Tuesday announced the Cold Storage Report and next is Friday's Cattle on Feed Report. It would be very unlikely to see cattle trade before estimates on the COF report are out, and cattle could wait to trade until after the report comes out all together Friday afternoon.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle market traded higher at times throughout the day but closed nearly steady. October feeder calves closed $0.27 higher at $143.70, November feeders closed $0.65 higher at $143.50 and January feeders are starting to attract some interest from buyers and closed $0.70 higher at $139.80. The feeder cattle market was able to close higher despite a wavery live cattle market.
On an estimated run of 5,659 head (down 1,129 head from the previous week) Joplin Regional Stockyards in Carthage, Missouri called feeder steers and heifers $3.00 to $7.00 lower on Monday, and yearlings steady. Most demand was for long weaned calves or for yearlings, there were few buyers interested in freshly weaned calves. CME feeder cattle index for 10/21/19: $144.93 down $1.03.
LEAN HOGS:
Packers processed hogs at an exceptional rate Tuesday. On one hand it's fantastic that packers are processing the big glut of market ready hogs but on another hand, it's infuriating to see domestic prices drop lower and lower, all while knowing that the world's hog population is lessening because of disease outbreak. All hog contracts closed lower Tuesday. Deferred contracts faired the best while nearby markets lost substantial market position. December lean hogs are down the most, $2.32 lower at $65.50. Pork cutouts totaled a massive 419.29 loads with 362.20 loads of pork cuts and 57.09 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.43 at $76.10. CME lean hog index for 10/18/19: $65.53 down $0.11.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: $1.00 lower. With having processed an enormous run Tuesday, packers won't be in a rush to buy more hogs. They will be able to take their time and price them accordingly.
 |
| #completeherdhealth |
No comments:
Post a Comment