GENERAL COMMENTS:
It may be a holiday week but futures are coasting into the Thanksgiving holiday with a shiny livestock complex -- live cattle, feeder cattle and lean hog futures all closed higher.
Two big snow storms float across the continental U.S., making cattlemen cringe at the realization that winter isn't too far away. Sale barns will likely be pretty quiet moving into the holiday weekend, and feedlots unfortunately won't be able to take much of a break on Thanksgiving Thursday as cattle will need extra feed with 10 inches of snow expected in parts of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.68 with a weighted average of $42.47. December corn is down 3 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $3.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 55.21 points and NASDAQ is up 15.44 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle contracts had a nice little rally on the board Tuesday, closing higher in both nearby and deferred contracts. December live cattle closed $0.70 higher at $120.40, February live cattle closed $0.52 higher at $125.67 and April live cattle closed $0.87 higher at $126.10. Light cash cattle trade developed again in parts of Iowa -- live cattle sold for $117.00 and dressed cattle sold for $183.75, which is mostly steady with the week's earlier trade.
Closing boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.40 ($231.84) and select up $0.38 ($212.29) with a movement of 143 loads (91.03 loads of choice cuts, 18.44 loads of select cuts, 11.77 loads of trim and 22.12 loads of ground beef). Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 110,000 head - down 8,000 from last week and down 10,000 head compared to a year ago.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00 higher. Given that cash trade is $1.00 higher for live cattle and steady money for dressed cattle, this week's trading range may already be cutout. If it was a normal week there would still be plenty of time to cutout new prices, but given that the week is cut short, prices will likely stay steady to $1.00 higher.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts were unable to close the day completely higher as nearby contracts dipped down into lower prices near closing. January feeders closed $0.35 lower at $141.62, March feeders closed $0.12 lower at $142.22 and April feeders closed $0.30 higher at $144.05.
On an estimated run of 1,144 head (down 2,100 head from the previous week) at Sioux Falls Regional Auction in Worthing, South Dakota, sold steers calves 500 to 550 pounds and 600 to 650 pounds $5.00 to $10.00 higher. Heifers under 600 pounds sold with lower undertones while heifers 600 to 650 pounds sold with higher undertones. It was noted that there were more farmer feeders in the crowd this week that were interested in buying packages of calves. The CME feeder cattle index 11/25/19: down $0.54 at $144.79.
LEAN HOGS:
A steady upward trend in the board is a nice way to close the day! The spot December contract weakened just a touch and closed $0.20 lower at $60.82, while February lean hogs closed $0.07 higher at $67.82 and April lean hogs closed $0.47 higher at $74.35. Pork cutouts totaled 317.31 loads with 255.57 loads of pork cuts and 61.75 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.75 at $82.26. The CME lean hog index 11/22/19: down $1.58 at $58.18.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. Given that packers have all the supply they need and cutout values etch lower, packers aren't going to be too optimistic about shelling out more money for hogs this week.
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