GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading mixed into Monday's afternoon as both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts are trading higher thanks to Friday's supportive Cattle on Feed report and Monday's weaker corn complex. The lean hog complex is somewhat skeptical of Monday's marketplace as traders yearn to see what demand will be this week. May corn is down 4 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $0.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 49.20 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading higher into Monday's noon hour as the market continues to rally on strong fundamentals. The combination of strong beef demand and thin market-ready supplies of fat cattle will continue to propel prices higher into this week's market. April live cattle are up $0.45 at $165.82, June live cattle are up $0.52 at $161.60 and August live cattle are up $0.52 at $160.30. New showlists appear to be higher in major feeding states.
Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade waited to develop until Thursday and Friday. Northern dressed traded ranged from $257 to $262, but was mostly at $260 to $262, which is $3.00 to $5.00 higher than the previous week. Southern live cattle traded for $164 to $164.50, which is $2.00 to $2.50 higher than the previous week's weighted average.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.32 ($286.96) and select up $1.97 ($279.05) with a movement of 39 loads (28.31 loads of choice, 5.11 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 6.07 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
It took the feeder cattle contracts longer than I expected to trade higher, but now that traders have had enough time to absorb last week's Cattle on Feed report and are noting the continued decline in corn prices, feeders are trading fully higher into Monday's noon hour. March feeders are up $0.70 at $189.77, April feeders are up $1.35 at $194.97 and May feeders are up $1.22 at $199.27. Even though the feeder cattle contracts are breaking into new territory and rallying to new price points, the upward surge is likely to continue as supplies are feeder cattle are limited and the closer the calendar gets to spring and green grass, demand for both feeders and calves will likely get stronger.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is stepping into Monday's trade cautiously as traders try to gauge what demand will be this week. Last week the market was supported by an extremely strong export sales report, but seeing stable, constant support in afternoon pork cutout values remains the gray area of the market. April lean hogs are down $0.70 at $85.32, June lean hogs re down $0.77 at $102.70 and July lean hogs are down $0.70 at $105.12.
The projected lean hog index for Feb. 24 is up $0.73 at $78.22 and the actual index for Feb. 23 is down $0.24 at $77.49. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.02 with a weighted average of $77.85, ranging from $71.00 to $79.00 on 4,759 head and a five-day rolling average of $77.72. Pork cutouts total 129.83 loads with 118.37 loads of pork cuts and 11.46 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $4.29, $89.64
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