GENERAL COMMENTS:
Another day of emotionally fueled market uncertainty strikes the livestock sector; leaves the complex exhausted and inconclusive about what's to come in the upcoming days. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.20 with a weighted average of $50.22. May corn is down 6 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $5.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 1,190.95 points and NASDAQ is down 414.29 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Lower, lower and lower yet again drops the board. The coronavirus has worked the cattle contracts over and left them with no choice but to trade lower in nearby contracts. Like the feeder cattle complex, the live cattle contracts closed lower in nearby markets and slightly higher in deferred. April live cattle are down $1.87 at $110.47, June live cattle are down $1.10 at $103.92 and August live cattle are down $0.50 at $104.47. The majority of cash trade is done for the week, but a little bit of clean up trade did surface in parts of the North Thursday afternoon. Dressed cattle traded anywhere from $183 to $185, which is steady to slightly lower than the earlier prices developed this week.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.80 ($205.54) and select up $1.09 ($199.69) with a movement of 182 loads (122.19 loads of choice, 34.12 loads of select, 0 loads of trim and 25.50 loads of ground beef). Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head, steady with a week ago and 3,000 head more than a year ago.
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. If any trade transpires Friday it will only be clean up trade and most likely will trade within the prices already established this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts recovered a little piece of the market as the day's end neared. Nearby contracts closed $1.32 to $1.90 lower while deferred contracts closed $0.15 to $0.87 higher. March feeders are down $1.50 at $132.57, April feeders are down $1.90 at $134.07 and May feeders are down $1.32 at $135.55. Even though the feeder cattle complex closed mixed rather than just lower, the day is hardly considered to be in a better situation as uncertainty looms.
At Clarinda Livestock Feeder Cattle Auction in Clarinda, Iowa, compared to last week, all classes and weighs were sharply lower, except 400 to 450-pound heifers that sold steady to $1.00 higher. Steers weighing 500 to 700 pounds sold $10.00 to $15.00 lower and the steers weighing 750 to 950 pounds were $5.00 to $10.00 lower. Heifers weighing 450 to 600 pounds sold $1.50 to $8.00 lower, while heifers weighing 650 to 800 pounds sold $5.00 to $8.00 lower. Trade was relatively active but the demand for heavier weight brackets was weak. The CME feeder cattle index 2/26/2020: not available at this time.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog market didn't fair very well through Thursday's wake as contracts fell $0.95 to $2.60 lower. April lean hogs are down $2.60 at $62.55, June lean hogs are down $2.35 at $78.05 and July lean hogs are down $2.20 at $79.40. The one bright thing that can be said through this whole process is that thankfully packers have continued to be aggressive in their kills -- on the pork side, in their cash market purchases as well. Pork cutouts totaled 329.70 loads with 297.62 loads of pork cuts and 32.08 loads of trim. Pork cutouts values: down $0.20, $64.29. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 494,000 head, 2,000 head more than a week ago and 19,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 2/25/2020: up $0.25, $56.41.
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. Seeing that the market isn't coming to terms with the coronavirus, it would be unlikely for the cash market to advance notably, but steady consistent gains like what we have seen over the last week could very well continue.
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