GENERAL COMMENTS:
Volatility is an ugly, wretched, devious thing. Lower one day, limit lower the next, then the market touts glimpses of support. The market's key fundamentals seem to be speaking different languages instead of riding this storm out together. Luckily sale barns remain mostly open at this point, but their runs are so slim that it's hard to get an accurate test on the market. Boxed beef prices made advancements Monday that were record breaking for the biggest moves made in one day, and yet the April live cattle contracts have fell nearly $29.32 since the beginning of the year and June live cattle contracts roughly $28.95.
It's hard to process all of what's going on. From keeping up with the market's swings to keeping your own moral and spirit centered; life presents plenty of challenges right now. The one thing we all can control is ourselves through this madness. I'm not talking about how you should go about buying groceries, but rather how you should concentrate on find pieces of normalcy that you can keep in your life to help remember that things move on, and this too shall pass. Thankfully, cows still need fed, calves still need tagged and planters need primed before the ground is ready to farm. It may help you pass some of the time and deflect some of the chaos if you can keep your day busy with normal jobs.
Cash hog prices rang the bell Tuesday afternoon as prices jumped $2.06 on the National Direct Afternoon Hog report and now have a weighted average of $55.44. May corn is down 10 3/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $2.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1,048.86 points and NASDAQ is up 430.19 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle contracts closed fully higher with nearby contracts closing the day limit higher. April live cattle closed $4.50 higher at $96.35, June live cattle closed $4.50 higher at $89.75 and August live cattle closed $4.50 higher at $89.57. Tuesday's close was comforting in the essence that it was higher, but we need to remember that trends take time to establish, and that just because Tuesday closed higher doesn't mean that we have seen the end of this.
Cash cattle started to trade higher as the day progressed and a light trade was reported in the North at $168 to $175, mostly ranging from $170 to $175, which is steady to $5.00 higher than Monday's trade.
Boxed beef prices close substantially higher: choice up $15.57 ($239.93) and select up $12.61 ($229.32) with a movement of 268 loads (174.37 loads of choice, 31.64 loads of select, 13.01 loads of trim and 48.52 loads of ground beef). Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 121,000 head, 2,000 head less than last week and steady with a year ago.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Slightly higher. Seeing that the countryside was mostly quiet Tuesday afternoon, it wouldn't surprise me if feeders are gut-full of lower prices, stick together later this week and push prices higher. How much higher is a fabulous question! And can they make it until Friday if they need too? That's another teetering question.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts closed higher ranging from upwards of $1.87 to $5.05 stronger. March feeders closed $5.05 higher at $113.55, April feeders closed $2.77 higher at $110.87 and May feeders closed $1.87 higher at $111.85. Sale barn markets were mostly too lightly tested to get an accurate market report, but thankfully many of them have thus far committed to staying open. The CME feeder cattle index 3/16/2020: down $0.67, $124.00.
LEAN HOGS:
Lean hog contracts closed $3.62 to $4.50 higher. April lean hogs closed $4.50 higher at $58.47, June lean hogs closed $3.62 higher at $70.42 and July lean hogs closed $4.25 higher at $72.27. Pork cutouts total a massive 510.10 loads with 477.31 loads of pork cuts and 32.79 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.04, $74.42. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 498,000 head, steady with a week ago and 27,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 3/13/2020: up $0.43, $59.29.
WEDNESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to higher. Understanding that the retail sector is immensely pressured, and that packers are able to make profits when demand is high, should help keep the cash market strong.
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