GENERAL COMMENTS:
Both the cattle market and lean hog complex have reasons to be thankful heading into the Thanksgiving holiday, but what took the cake in Wednesday's trade was undoubtedly the cash cattle market where live cattle traded $5.00 to $6.00 higher than a week ago and dressed cattle demanded $9.00 to $10.00 over last week's weighted average. Hog prices closed higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.11 with a weighted average of $55.66 on 11,694 head. December corn is down 3/4 cent per bushel and January soybean meal is down $5.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 9.42 points and NASDAQ is up 70.08 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
What a day! It was just a mere three weeks ago when the market shot through the resistance at $130 in the cash market and feedlots felt like they conquered the world; little did they know that $140 would soon be in their future and that the bulls were going to run wild with this market. The last time that cattle traded for $140 was in the first week of May 2017. Throughout the day live cattle traded in the Southern Plains for $138 to $140 and Northern dressed cattle sold for $217 to $220. Of the cattle that sold for $220, some were bought with time, with delivery for the week of Dec. 6. Upon the robust trade that sparked the live cattle market's rally, the futures market soared higher as well. As bizarre as it may seem, new contract highs were achieved in all the live cattle 2022 contracts, as well in the spot December 2021 contract. December live cattle closed $2.50 higher at $137.90, February live cattle closed $1.45 higher at $140.87 and April live cattle closed $1.10 higher at $143.90. If there's one thing for certain, feedlots have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 121,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago and 2,000 head more than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $0.47 at $279.11 and select up $0.80 at $263.47 with a movement of 129 loads (72.85 loads of choice, 36.60 loads of select, 5.05 loads of trim and 14.79 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady with the week's trend. It's unlikely that there will be much trade come Friday, and if there is any, it will most likely be for steady prices with the week's average.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeders are mesmerized with the rally that's taking place throughout the live cattle and cash cattle markets and thankful for the positive impact that it's had on the feeder cattle market. The nearby contracts are thriving and taking any and all technical support that the market has to give, but what may be even more exciting is that the deferred 2022 contracts are trading less than $2.00 away from $180.00. With the country liquidating cows for various reasons (market hardship over the last two years, high hay prices, drought etc.) the feeding sector is realizing that finding calves to fill their pens in the years to come is going to be more difficult that it has been in years past. January feeders closed $2.55 higher at $166.92, March feeders closed $2.22 higher at $167.90 and April feeders closed $1.77 higher at $169.80. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for Nov. 23: unavailable at time of publishing.
LEAN HOGS:
Packers were aggressive in Wednesday's cash hog market as the market saw over 11,500 head trade and prices even closed $0.11 higher. With there only being five short weeks left in 2021, packers want to get supplies of market-ready hogs committed, so they aren't forced into cashing the market through the holidays and potentially running the risk of paying even more for them. The futures market closed favoring the nearby contracts while the deferred contracts drifted slightly lower. December lean hogs closed $1.27 higher at $75.42, February lean hogs closed $0.97 higher at $84.25 and April lean hogs closed $0.10 higher at $88.05. Helping both the cash market and the nearby futures contracts was also the pork cutout values higher close where gains were seen in the loin, butt and picnic ham cuts, and Wednesday's movement of 412.81 loads was huge! Pork cutouts total 412.81 loads with 375.14 loads of pork cuts and 37.67 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.06, $84.98. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 471,000 head, 13,000 head less than a week ago and 19,000 head less than a year ago. The CME Lean Hog Index for Nov. 22: up $0.27, $73.15.
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Lower. With packers aggressive in Wednesday cash market and Friday being the day after Thanksgiving, it's unlikely that they will chase the hog market come Friday.
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