Wednesday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Cattle Futures Keep Trading Lower While Lean Hogs Test Some Positive Movement

GENERAL COMMENTS

As the board continues in a lackluster holding pattern, trading incrementally lower into the middle of the week, some support is building in lean hog futures and the cash cattle market. July corn is down 1 cent per bushel and July soybean meal is up $1.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 321.14 points and NASDAQ is up 168.22 points.

LIVE CATTLE

Nearby live cattle contracts have almost reached the $100 threshold and the market is putting up some heavy resistance on the complex to trade lower versus rallying higher. June live cattle are down $0.12 at $98.65, August live cattle are down $0.85 at $98.22 and October live cattle are down $0.82 at $100.30. The board may be trading lower, but the cash cattle market has decided to trade higher after the Fed Cattle Exchange Auction. Some Southern live cattle are trading at $120, $10 higher than last week's weighted average in Texas. Some trade has developed in the North at mostly $190, which is $11 higher than last week's average in Nebraska. Asking prices are $120-plus in the South and $190 to $195 in the North.

The Fed Cattle Exchange Auction listed a total of 2,782 head (1,275 head in Kansas, 350 head in Nebraska, 731 in Texas, and 426 head in Oklahoma), all set for one- to 17-day delivery. All went unsold. Asking prices ranged from $115 to $120.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.16 ($409.31) and select up $3.90 ($392.77) with movement of 83 loads (39.04 loads of choice, 10.85 loads of select, 19.48 loads of trim and 13.44 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE

Feeder cattle contracts have kicked back and are trading in the shadows of the live cattle market -- mostly lower and unambitious. Come Thursday the May feeder cattle contract will expire and the front month attention will roll to the August contract. August feeders are down $1.02 at $130.90, September feeders are down $0.92 at $132.40 and October feeders are down $0.85 at $133.40

LEAN HOGS

Heading into the noon hour, lean hog futures are starting to show signs of optimism throughout the board. The spot June contact and deferred contracts are trading modestly higher while the summer contracts are still lower. June lean hogs are up $0.05 at $56.70, July lean hogs are down $0.55 at $55.72 and August lean hogs are down $0.90 at $54.57. The pork sector has been vigilant about getting the enormous amount of backed up hogs processed and, although it will continue to pressure nearby contracts until the problem is worked through, deferred contracts could be seeing some light as hopefully the problem is long gone by the time they become nearbys.

The projected lean hog index for 5/19/2020 is down $1.06 at $65.98, and the actual index for 5/18/2020 is down $0.56 at $67.04. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $2.39 with a weighted average of $35.93, ranging from $33.00 to $38.50 on 5,430 head sold and a five-day rolling average of $36.81. Pork cutouts total 184.18 loads with 156.01 loads of pork cuts and 28.17 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $6.69, 104.39.

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