GENERAL COMMENTS:
Cash cattle sellers and hog producers with hogs to sell were treated with one last gift of the year. Both cash markets closed out the week higher while the futures market was mostly steady after Thursday's push. Cash hog prices are higher on National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.39 with a weighted average of $49.06. March corn is up 1 1/2 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $3.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 23.87 points and NASDAQ is down 15.77 points.
Friday to Friday livestock futures scored the following changes: December live cattle up $1.28, February live cattle up $0.90; January feeder cattle up $1.28, March feeder cattle up $0.43; February lean hogs down $0.10, April lean hogs up $0.37.
LIVE CATTLE:
Cash cattle trade on Friday was like watching a racetrack for the first time. All week it felt like we were the horses in the box: ready, set .. ah, hell why not make the packers wait another day. Ready, set, ring-ring, no thank you: I'll sit on this pen a while longer. Ready, set, sold! When trade finally broke loose on Friday around noon it happened quick and cattle were selling; selling for higher money that is. Cattle in the South are trading anywhere from $122 to instances of $124 and cattle in the north are trading anywhere from $195 to $197. Some of the cattle in the north were sold with time for the weeks of 1/6/20 to 1/13/20. Nevertheless, feeders are feeling like Santa dropped off one last present as they close out another week and look to the New Year.
Boxed beef prices close lower: choice down $1.19 ($208.96) and select down $0.68 ($204.57) with a movement of 113 loads (64.05 loads of choice, 11.35 loads of select, 7.63 loads of trim and 30.38 loads of ground beef). Friday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head and Saturday's slaughter is estimated to be around 83,000 head.
MONDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. With next week being another shortened week for the New Year's holiday, cash cattle trade will most likely be obsolete Monday, with cash trade expected later in the week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts closed the week on the upper end of Thursday's rally. January feeder cattle closed $0.10 higher at $145.55, March feeders closed $0.37 lower at $144.80 and April feeders closed $0.22 lower at $147.30. Early next week trade may be bumped with the New Year's holiday, but come Thursday and Friday the market should be starting to level out and looking forward to normal trading weeks. The CME feeder cattle index 12/26/19: $144.61, down $1.20.
LEAN HOGS:
Lean hog contracts had a Christmas week of mostly steady prices, some days higher, some days lower, but all in all trade mostly leveled out to be steady. February lean hogs closed $0.32 lower at $70.57, April lean hogs closed $0.40 lower at $77.87 and May lean hogs closed $0.17 lower at $84.32. While the board may have closed lower, it was encouraging to producers that the cash market was able to nab higher prices in the later part of the week. While there still is one more holiday to jump through before the market levels out and has normal trading weeks, hog producers are eager for the new year as it hopefully will unveil a trade agreement sooner rather than later. Pork cutouts totaled 320.66 loads with 285.72 loads of pork cuts and 34.94 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.74, at $75.04. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 483,000 head, and Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 416,000 head. The CME lean hog index: no available at this time.
MONDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. With the cash market closing higher and the board sitting idle. It wouldn't be surprising for cash hogs to trade steady early in the week.
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