Oh, Monday, the trivial tricks you play are never good. Early Monday morning, live cattle contracts were higher, feeder cattle contracts were mixed and lean hog contracts were down significantly. But as the clock ticks closer and closer to the noon hour, all contracts have begun to trade in the red. March corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and January soybean meal is up $0.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 71.37 points and the NASDAQ is down 6.35 points.
LIVE CATTLE
An astronomical cattle harvest, a higher Friday futures close and a cash cattle rally can't seem to spark live cattle contracts Monday. Early in the day, contracts welcomed the idea but have dropped lower since then. December live cattle are up $0.10 at $120.30, February live cattle are down $0.25 at $124.72 and April live cattle are down $0.07 at $125.27. This week's showlists appear to be higher in Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado, but lower in Texas. According to Friday afternoon's mandatory reports, last week's trade volumes were as follows: Kansas 18,677 head, Nebraska 12,218 head, Texas and Colorado not available due to confidentially, and Iowa 15,867 head.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.55 ($223.01) and select down $1.10 ($206.20) with a movement of 66 loads (33.70 loads of choice, 7.08 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 25.51 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
Feeder cattle markets opened lower despite Friday's stronger close. The January feeder cattle contracts is down $0.90 at $140.65, March feeders are down $0.35 at $141.32 and April feeders are down $0.47 at $143.30. Feeder cattle contracts will most likely continue to struggle as the feeder cattle index drops lower in reflection of weaker countryside prices. With only three more weeks left in December, feeder cattle contracts are ready for January's coming.
LEAN HOGS
Hog harvest rallied cattle slaughter with the same excitement -- topping the week at 2.79 million hogs processed last week. But even with an exponential harvest, lean hog contracts still lack overall support while entering into the complex Monday morning. December lean hogs are down $1.00 at $60.12, February lean hogs are down $1.07 at $66.50 and April lean hogs are down $0.87 at $72.82.
The project lean hog index for 12/05/19 is up $0.15 at $58.49, and the actual index for 12/04/19 came in at $58.34, up $0.12. Hog prices on the National Direct Morning Hog Report are unavailable at this time due to packer submission problems. Pork cutouts total 132.84 loads with 120.55 loads of pork cuts and 12.30 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are up $0.93 at $83.01.
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