GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a busy holiday-shortened week for the livestock complex. The futures market rallied and helped support lively cash cattle trade, which feedlots desperately needed. The feeder cattle complex was able to rally as news of moisture was seen across all headlines, and the lean hog complex rallied as pork cutout prices saw mild support. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $1.88 with a weighted average of $97.79 o 6,187 head. May corn is up 6 3/4 cents per bushel, and May soybean meal is up $3.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 71.48 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle contracts rounded out the week lower after a tremendous week of robust support seen both technically and fundamentally. April live cattle closed $0.05 higher at $140.67, June live cattle closed $0.45 lower at $136.42 and August live cattle closed $0.32 lower at $138.32. Even though the contracts closed lower, the spot June contract was able to keep its price point above the 40-day moving average, by a mere $0.03. The cash cattle market didn't see much action in Thursday's market, as packers had fulfilled their needs. It's amazing what can happen when feedlots work together and use their showlists to their advantage. Given that supplies were tight in the North, feedlots were able to push the market higher, and dressed cattle sold anywhere from $224 to $231, but mostly from $225 to $226, which was $2 to $3 higher than last week. Southern live cattle traded at $138 to $140, but mostly at $139, which is $1 higher. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 123,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week ago and 10,000 head more than a year ago.
Beef net sales of 17,200 for 2022 were up 23% from the previous week, but down 18% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were South Korea (7,500 mt), Japan (4,200 mt) and Canada (1,300 mt).
Thursday's actual slaughter data shared that for the week ended April 2, 2022, steers averaged 909 pounds (down 1 pound) and heifers averaged 842 pounds (steady with the week before).
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.50 ($271.86) and select up $0.34 ($259.71) with a movement of 102 loads (67.72 loads of choice, 10.49 loads of select, 3.32 loads of trim and 20.22 loads of ground beef).
MONDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1 higher. Packers will be bitter about seeing the cash market advance higher but depending on how showlists shake out. Feedlots may have another chance to push the market higher.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The corn contracts did close slightly higher in their nearby contracts, but the feeder cattle market's lower close was largely due to the fact that traders checked out for the weekend to get to early Easter festivities. April feeders closed $0.35 lower at $158.20, May feeders closed $0.17 lower at $161.77 and August feeders closed $0.07 lower at $174.35. Looking to next week's market and what may come, the feeder cattle complex will look for support once again from the live cattle sector and hopes that the market can make headway after getting moisture this past week. At Winter Livestock in Dodge City, Kansas, compared to last week, on a run of 1,905 head, yearling steers and heifers weighing 600 to 800 pounds traded $4 to $6 stronger. Feeder steers and heifers weighing 800 to 950 pounds traded steady to $2 stronger. There wasn't a good trend established on steer and heifer calves weighing 400 to 600 pounds, but a lower trend was noted. Slaughter cows sold steady to $2 lower, and slaughter bulls traded $2 to $3 higher. The CME feeder cattle index 4/13/2022: up $0.09, $155.95.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex closed mixed as traders weren't really willing to move the market much higher ahead of the long weekend but loved that pork cutout values saw an uptick in price. June lean hogs closed $0.87 higher at $118.47, July lean hogs closed $0.32 higher at $119.42 and August lean hogs closed $0.10 lower at $117.75. Packers weren't willing to see the cash market gain any more steam ahead of the weekend, but it was impressive to see over 6,000 head trade. With it being a long weekend, packers want to make darn sure they have enough hogs on the books so that next week isn't chaotic after the holiday. Pork cutouts total 256.44 loads with 231.49 loads of pork cuts and 24.95 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.73, $108.53. The CME lean hog index 4/12/2022: up $0.09, $99.19.
Pork net sales of 24,000 mt for 2022 were down 42% from the previous week and 26% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (6,100 mt), Japan (5,400 mt) and China (4,000 mt). Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 478,000 head -- 12,000 head more than a week ago and 4,000 head more than a year ago.
Thursday's actual slaughter data shared that for the week ended April 2, 2022, live carcass weights average 294 pounds (up 1 pound), and dressed carcass weights averaged 219 pounds (up 1 pound).
MONDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Higher. After being dark for Easter, it's likely that the packers will want to be aggressive in getting hogs booked for the days ahead.
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