Thursday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Livestock Contracts Trade Lower

General Comments

We knew that Thursday would be an uphill battle for the livestock contracts as sheer trading volume is thin and coming off two consecutively higher days would leave the third day in the week with a lot of pressure to trudge through. It's a blessing that the industry is prioritizing slaughter in both the hog and cattle sectors, but with cutouts starting to correct, getting the industry back to some fashion of 'normal' doesn't mean that the path getting there is beautiful and steadily higher. July corn is up 7 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $1.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 131.82 points and NASDAQ is up 75.00 points.

LIVE CATTLE

Live cattle contracts are trading mostly lower following suit with the rest of the livestock contracts. June live cattle are up $0.30 at $101.10, August live cattle are up $0.07 at $100.80 and October live cattle are down $0.40 at $102.45. The support in nearby contracts has only developed since midmorning but keeping those contracts above $100 is key for the market's morale. Cash cattle trade has been mostly quiet though some trade has developed in Nebraska. Dressed cattle have traded for $180 to $190 (all steady with the week's trend) though some cattle have been scheduled for delivery next week.

Boxed beef cutouts are lower: choice down $6.56 ($371.21) and select down $2.85 ($347.35) with a movement of 99 loads (44.18 loads of choice, 13.16 loads of select, 19.72 loads of trim and 22.35 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE

Feeder cattle contracts have trailed lower feeling the resistance like the rest of the livestock complex. August feeder cattle are down $0.02 at $133.97, September feeder cattle are down $0.22 at $134.85 and October feeder cattle are down $0.30 at $135.62. Seeing that the market's regression is mild at this point, feeder cattle sales throughout the countryside shouldn't be overly affected by the day's weakness.

LEAN HOGS

Lean hog contracts tumbled the furthest dropping prices back $2.00 to $3.00 and without much caution in doing so. June lean hogs are down $3.00 at $57.17, July lean hogs are down $3.67 at $55.60 and August lean hogs are down $3.05 at $54.55. Cash prices will most likely be lower again this afternoon seeing that the board is lower and that slaughter continues to work through the market's supply.

The projected lean hog index for 5/27/2020 is up $0.42 at $62.95 and the actual index for 5/26/2020 is up $0.23 at $62.53. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $1.88 with a weighted average of $35.94, ranging from $25.00 to $38.08 on 4,277 head sold and a five-day rolling average of $36.08. Pork cutouts total 143.13 loads with 124.13 loads of pork cuts and 19.00 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $6.30, $95.12.

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