GENERAL COMMENTS:
Thursday afternoon treated most of the livestock sector well; cash hog prices inched up, boxed beef prices closed higher and the live cattle contracts closed higher throughout the board. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.45 with a weighted average of $51.12. March corn is down 1 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $1.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 196.65 points and NASDAQ is up 64.78 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Closing the day higher is a prime feeling for feeders walking into Friday ready to sell fat cattle. February live cattle closed $0.37 higher at $126.72, April feeders closed $0.25 higher at $127.30 and June live cattle closed $0.27 higher at $119.47. Packers weren't overly aggressive Thursday afternoon leaving their midmorning bids on the table and now they're having to see how Friday shakes out.
Closing boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.46 ($209.96) and select up $0.15 ($206.68) with a movement of 139 loads (93.25 loads of choice, 16.52 loads of select, 9.79 loads of trim and 19.96 loads of ground beef). Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head, 1,000 head more than a year ago.
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: $1.00 higher. Seeing that boxed beef prices are slightly stronger and that feeders left bids on the table Thursday afternoon -- if feeders push hard for higher prices, they will most likely be there.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle markets closed the day on a strong note. Closing higher than the day's initial open and higher than Wednesday's close, the feeder cattle market closed higher in nearby contracts and modestly lower in deferred. January feeders closed $0.10 higher at $146.92, March feeders closed $0.02 higher at $146.55 and April feeders closed $0.15 higher at $149.17. The CME feeder cattle index 1/8/2020: not available at this time.
Huss Livestock Market in Kearney, Nebraska, sold 4,910 feeders and compared to their sale, steers under 550 pounds sold $8.00 higher, steers 550 to 800 pounds sold mostly stead and steers over 800 pounds sold $1.00 to $2.00 higher. Heifers sold steady to $3.00 higher. Demand was good for the first sale after the holiday break and there was noted to be a lot of farmer feeders in the crowd.
LEAN HOGS:
A tough day again for the lean hog future's market, but thankfully the cash market jumped just shy of $0.50 and pork cutouts are slightly higher. The lean hog complex took a drive lower again with contracts dropping $0.57 to $2.00 lower. February lean hogs are down $2.00 at $67.02, April lean hogs are down $1.27 at $74.47 and May lean hogs are down $1.55 at $80.47. Pork cutouts totaled 345.73 loads with 316.45 loads of pork cuts and 29.28 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.09, $72.83. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 495,000 head, 18,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 1/7/2020: $59.34, up $0.18.
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. Seeing that the lean hog market was able to gain ground Thursday afternoon, it wouldn't be surprising if the mark sits back and lets the live cattle trade take way on Friday.
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