Thursday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Contracts Look for Higher Prices

General Comments

Livestock contracts are battling the obvious pressures of the market to trade higher through Thursday and the lean hog and feeder cattle contracts are doing so but the live cattle contracts are fighting some added resistance. It helps that the cash hog market was higher Thursday morning and that the two feeder cattle specialty sales (Northern and Superior's Sales) are underway. Heading into the afternoon pork participants are ready to get their eyes on the latest quarterly hogs and pigs report which comes out Thursday afternoon. July corn is down 7 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 51.58 points and NASDAQ is up 37.81 points.

LIVE CATTLE

The live cattle market is trading on opposite ends of the spectrum as the board moves higher while cash cattle prices continue to crumble. The biggest blessing of the morning is that the feeder cattle market seems to be largely unaffected by the cash cattle market's weakness. August live cattle are down $0.02 at $96.30, October live cattle are up $0.17 at $99.80 and December live cattle are up $0.30 at $103.65. Thus far there has been only a light trade in Texas at $95 -- $6.00 lower than last week's weighted average. Asking prices hold at $98 to $100 in the South while cattle in the North are priced at $160 dressed.

Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.75 ($207.94) and select down $1.11 ($200.58) with a movement of 123 loads (65.08 loads of choice, 17.68 loads of select, 21.97 loads of trim and 18.53 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE

It's a feeder cattle junkie's dream this Thursday ... Even though there are enough reasons in the marketplace to be as bearish as the scrooge himself, the live cattle market is trending higher, feeder cattle contracts are higher and the two specialty sales taking place right now on Northern's Livestock Video Auction and Superior's Livestock Auction are faring considerably well -- I will report prices once the sales are complete. August feeders are up $0.95 at $133.85, September feeders are up $0.80 at $134.97 and October feeders are up $0.75 at $135.92.

LEAN HOGS

Lean hog contracts are rallying into Thursday's noon hour as pork demand is strong through the retail sector and packers are playing a little extra for cash hogs Thursday morning. July lean hogs are up $0.72 at $46.65, August lean hogs are up $0.15 at $51.40 and October lean hogs are up $0.12 at $50.35. Heading into the afternoon all hog participants will be watching closely for the quarterly hogs and pigs report which will debut insight into the U.S. herds since COVID-19.

The projected lean hog index for 6/24/2020 is down $0.22 at $44.87 and the actual index for 6/23/2020 is down $0.07 at $45.10. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.28 with a weighted average of $28.77, ranging from $24.00 to $31.50 on 5,461 head and a five-day rolling average of $28.56. Pork cutouts total 163.01 loads with 126.56 loads of pork cuts and 36.44 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.92, $68.60.

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