GENERAL COMMENTS
It was a wild week for the cattle complex with strong gains seen late in the week. When the cash cattle market finally decided to trade, the futures complex matched the cash cattle market's energy. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon hog report, down $0.72 with a weighted average of $70.86 on 6,305 hogs. May corn closed down 9 1/4 at $6.435 and May soybean meal closed up $3.70 at $454.3. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 2.57 at 33,485.29.
**The markets will be closed on Friday, April 7, for Good Friday, regular DTN market comments will resume on Monday, April 10. **
LIVE CATTLE:
We are currently living through times that will be referred to as the "good old days" in the years to come. Yes, our economy is weak, interest rates are high and it's tough telling whether or not these higher prices will correlate to greater profitably, but at least cattlemen stand a fighting chance in this type of marketplace. This past week, feedlots marketed their pens tactically, and it paid off. Over the course of the last two weeks, cash cattle prices have gained anywhere from $8.00 to $10.00 in a mere 10-day span of time -- that's incredible, and feedlots deserve a well-earned applause. It's likely that some more cash cattle trade could develop on Friday, but thus far this week, Southern live cattle have traded for $168 to $170, which is $4.00 higher compared to last week's weighted average in Texas and $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average in Kansas. Northern dressed cattle have had a wide trading range from $172 to $177, but mostly $175 live which is $5.00 higher than last week's weighted average.
To put it into perspective just how strong these prices are, dressed trade in both Nebraska and Iowa have already broken the all-time highs for weekly weighted averages. So far, this Nebraska's weighted average trade sits at $278.27 ($7.67 higher than the previous record), Iowa's weighted average this week sits at $278.10 ($8.04 higher than the previous record), and while Texas and Kansas are trading higher than weeks ago, they haven't surpassed the market's previous highs.
April live cattle closed $2.68 higher at $171.075, June live cattle closed $2.80 higher at $163.10 and August live cattle closed $2.33 higher at $162.3. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head -- 4,000 head less than a week ago and 1,000 head more than a year ago.
Thursday's actual slaughter data shared that, for the week ending March 25, steers averaged 895 pounds, which is 8 pounds lighter than last week and 15 pounds lighter than a year ago. For the same week, heifers averaged 827 pounds, which is 3 pounds lighter than a week ago and 15 pounds lighter than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice up $1.03 ($289.65) and select down $1.53 ($276.63) with a movement of 102.28 loads (76.15 loads of choice, 12.53 loads of select, 3.25 loads of trim and 10.35 loads of ground beef).
MONDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. It's tough telling what next week's cash cattle market will do. So much of the market's fate will depend on how many cattle were bought this week with time.
FEEDER CATTLE:
It was a glorious day for the feeder cattle complex as the cash cattle market's momentum amid a weak corn market made for the perfect storm in feeders' eyes. Feeders were leery of advancing the contracts ahead of seeing what this week's cash cattle market was going to do, but as soon as feeders caught wind of what Wednesday's cash cattle market did, prices gapped higher right from Thursday's get-go and never looked back. April feeders closed $2.80 higher at $200.625, May feeders closed $3.30 higher at $205.4 and August feeders closed $3.38 higher at $222.6. At Huss Livestock Market in Kearney, Nebraska, compared to last week, steers under 550 pounds sold $15.00 higher, steers weighing 550 pounds traded $3.00 stronger and steers over 600 pounds sold $5.00 to $10.00 higher. Heifers under 650 pounds sold $10.00 to $15.00 higher, heifers weighing 650 to 750 pounds sold $7.00 to $9.00 higher and heifers over 750 pounds sold $1.00 to $4.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 82%. The CME Feeder Cattle Index for April 5: down $0.07, $193.22.
LEAN HOGS:
It was a disappoint end to Thursday's market as the lean hog contracts tried to rally through the day's end, but traders weren't confident enough to keep the market's morale elevated through closing. April lean hogs closed $0.75 higher at $74.15, June lean hogs closed $0.20 lower at $88.17 and July lean hogs closed $0.15 lower at $91.27. It's nice to see pork cutout values higher for the day, but that's a little bit of a misleading close as the belly gained $12.01 from Wednesday's end which skews the carcass's price. Come Monday, it won't be surprising to see a lower close in pork cutout values as large price swings are extremely volatile for the complex.
Pork Cutouts totaled 292.31 loads with 272.36 loads of pork cuts and 19.95 loads of trim. Pork cutout values are up $2.12 at $78.68. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 481,000 head -- 3,000 head more than a week ago and 12,000 head more than a year ago. The CME Lean Hog Index for April 4: down $0.77, $73.91.
MONDAY'S HOG CALL: Higher. Given that packers didn't buy very many hogs in this week's cash market, they'll likely need to support the market more so next week.
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