General Comments
The livestock complex continues to trade mixed into Monday's afternoon as cattle contracts are fully higher, but the lean hog market is lower. The worry about African swine fever grew over the weekend as China joined South Korea in halting imports of pork from Germany. December corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and December soybean meal is down $1.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 387.71 points and NASDAQ is up 222.88 points.
LIVE CATTLE
Live cattle contracts trade over $1.00 higher in nearby contracts and just under $1.00 higher in deferred contracts. October live cattle are up $1.20 at $106.70, December live cattle are up $1.22 at $111.12 and February live cattle are up $1.00 at $115.30. Seeing that the week's showlists are lighter, this week's cash cattle trade will be one worth watching as packers are going to try to keep pushing prices lower saying that their needs are minimal and boxed beef prices are lower, but feedlots are going to use the momentum from last week's determination to try to keep prices at least steady. If the board keeps with its higher trade, feeders may even decide to prices cattle $1.00 higher. New showlists appear to be somewhat lower in Kansas, and lower in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado.
It's a bitter day for cattlemen as news broke only minutes ago that Denver's 115th National Western Stock Show scheduled for January 2021, will be postponed until January 2022.
Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 79,436 head. The majority of the cattle are for delivery in the first two weeks -- 58,315 head, while the remaining 21,121 head are for delivery in the following 15 to 30 days.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $1.81 ($218.08) and select up $0.97 ($208.07) with a movement of 86 loads (50.53 loads of choice, 9.07 loads of select, 13.73 loads of trim and 12.89 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE
Feeder cattle contracts are scaling higher into Monday's afternoon trade following last week's modest advancement. September feeders are up $0.80 at $140.80, October feeders are up $1.32 at $141.90 and November feeders are up $1.10 at $142.42. The market seems comfortable trading $0.80 to $1.60 higher as the gains are manageable and buyers support throughout the countryside has been thriving despite the worry about feed costs, drought and fire. As the calendar gets another week closer to the fall run, producers hope that this momentum is here to stay and will only build into the market's fall run.
LEAN HOGS
The lean hog market has been immensely pressured as the market shoots lower in nearby contracts unwilling to support the price jumps made last week. October lean hogs are down $1.67 at $64.90, December lean hogs are down $2.10 at $63.90 and February lean hogs are down $0.52 at $68.95. Over the weekend more concerns about African swine fever grew as China joined South Korea in banning pork imports from Germany. One would think that another country minimizing their export suppliers would excite the US markets but with how high last week's markets jumped, the enthusiasm is simply not there.
The projected lean hog index for 9/11/2020 is up $1.27 at $64.55 and the actual index for 9/10/2020 is up $0.84 at $63.28. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $2.42, ranging from $45.00 to $63.00 on 6,162 head and a five-day rolling average of $50.33. Pork cutouts total 169.78 loads with 148.46 loads of pork cuts and 21.32 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.17, $81.42.
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