Tuesday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Lower Tones Push Contracts Lower

GENERAL COMMENTS:

It's another gloomy day throughout the livestock complex as the contracts are heading into Tuesday afternoon mostly lower. With the corn market not adding any pressure, you'd expect at least the feeder cattle market to trade higher; but without technical interest from traders, the market has no other option but to drift lower. July corn is down 1/4 cent per bushel and July soybean meal is down $1.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 156.56 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

The live cattle market is trending lower into Tuesday afternoon, which isn't the news feedlots were hoping for as they want to be able to trade cattle at least fully steady this week. There's some light trade being reported in parts of the South at $140, which is fully steady with last week's business. Asking prices in the South remain at $140 to $142, and the North has yet to disclose initial asking prices. With the board continuing to face pressure and packers having ample supplies of cattle either already committed to them or showing up in the form of calf fed fats -- steady prices will likely be the best that the cash market sees. June live cattle are down $1.02 at $132.52, August live cattle are down $1.05 at $134.32 and October live cattle are down $0.92 at $141.80.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.96 ($257.33) and select up $0.57 ($243.70) with a movement of 85 loads (37.03 loads of choice, 19.19 loads of select, 16.07 loads of trim and 12.80 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Feeder cattle are thankful to see the corn market trending lower, but as traders pay the market no attention, the feeder cattle contracts are left to trail lower even though the corn complex is weaker. Fundamental-minded folks see the feeder cattle market ripe for a modest rally as supplies obviously favor sellers' positions and the corn market seems to be stalling. But without technical support, the market is given no other option but to veer lower. May feeders are down $0.77 at $159.02, August feeders are down $1.75 at $172.47 and September feeders are down $1.92 at $175.30.

LEAN HOGS:

The lean hog contracts have joined the cattle sector in their downward move as the market sees no substantial interest from traders. June lean hogs are down $0.30 at $101.00, July lean hogs are down $0.40 at $103.80 and August lean hogs are down $0.50 at $103.97. The cash hog market is seeing strong interest again and over 6,000 head have already traded. Even though pork cutout values aren't seeing the type of interest they'd like, packers are still chasing the cash market as supplies of hogs are just simply thin.

The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 5/9/2022 is steady at $101.09, and the actual index for 5/6/2022 is down $0.05 at $100.91. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $4.27 with a weighted average of $105.69, ranging from $100.00 to $112.00 on 6,116 head and a five-day rolling average of $103.21. Pork cutouts total 154.60 loads with 148.23 loads of pork cuts and 6.37 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.09, $102.30.