Livestock contracts plunge lower heading into the noon hour while trading mostly lower. The emotional surge of the coronavirus is still keenly tapped into the marketplace and is making a mess out of Thursday's trade and leaving little hope for the cash markets. April live cattle are down $2.43 at $108.85, April feeder cattle are down $1.65 at $133.9, April lean hogs are up $0.20 at $64.5, May corn is down 4 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $4.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 824.22 points and NASDAQ is down 216.34 points.
LIVE CATTLE
One reason cattle contracts are feeling the burn from the coronavirus more than other markets is that beef products are known to be higher-end products and more expensive retail options. The worry is that if people stop traveling and eating out that the demand for beef will see a ripple effect. Thankfully, packers have yet to see beef demand dwindle and keep processing cattle at a vigorous rate.
Live cattle contracts continue to trade lower into the noon hour with nearby contracts suffering worse than deferred. April live cattle are down $2.60 at $108.67, June live cattle are down $1.95 at $102.57 and August live cattle are down $0.92 at $103.62. Another light movement of trade has been reported in Kansas Thursday morning at $113 -- steady with Wednesday's trade but $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average. A handful of cattle have traded in parts of Nebraska at $113 as well.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.43 ($207.25) and select down $0.70 ($200.81) with a movement of 47 loads (31.46 loads of choice, 5.04 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 10.01 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
The chaos from the coronavirus hits the markets again and sends feeder cattle contracts significantly lower. March feeders are down $1.25 at $133.60, April feeders are down $1.55 at $134.00 and May feeders are down $1.87 at $134.55. The scattered back and forth nature of trade right now makes it extremely difficult for traders to make a movement and invest with confidence.
LEAN HOGS
The lean hog market is the only livestock contract trading mixed with a few contracts hesitantly trading above steady prices. April lean hogs are up $0.10 at $64.40, June lean hogs are down $0.02 at $78.80 and July lean hogs are up $0.710 at $80.25. Seeing that cash hog prices are lower Thursday morning it wouldn't be that surprising to see the board weaken this afternoon and fall in line with the rest of the complex as pressure from outside markets seems to be growing and weighing heavily on the livestock sector.
The projected lean hog index for 3/4/2020 is up $0.33 at $56.79, and the actual index for 3/3/2020 is up $0.24 at $56.46. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.27 with a weighed average of $50.36, ranging from $45.00 to $50.76 on 5,425 head and a five-day rolling average of $50.50. Pork cutouts total 147.08 loads with 130.07 loads of pork cuts and 17.01 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.20, $65.94.
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