GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading split as the cattle contracts head higher into Wednesday's noon hour while the hog contracts continue to trade lower. No new cash cattle trade has developed, but packer interest is expected to improve Thursday afternoon, especially in the North. July corn is down 9 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $9.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 238.09 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading higher despite Wednesday's cash cattle trade reporting sales $2.00 lower in the South. Bids are currently on the table at $175 live and $275 to $278 dressed in the North, but feedlots are holding out for higher prices at this point. Asking prices in the South are noted at $172 and in the North at $280. More trade will need to develop Thursday as only a thin movement of cattle traded in the South on Wednesday. Wednesday's Southern business was marked at $170, which is $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average. A handful of cattle were traded in the North on Wednesday, but it's hardly worth reporting given how few traded and no market trend was established. However, the cattle that did trade were sold at $277. June live cattle are steady at $163.00, August live cattle are up $0.30 at $161.47, and October live cattle are up $0.20 at $165.20.
Beef net sales of 16,600 metric tons (mt) for 2023 were down 18% from the previous week but up 16% from the prior four-week average. The three primary buyers were South Korea (4,400 mt), Japan (3,700 mt) and Canada (3,100 mt).
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.83 ($306.04) and select up $0.14 ($284.68) with a movement of 84 loads (46.02 loads of choice, 17.13 loads of select, 3.31 loads of trim and 17.26 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is trading mostly higher as the market warmly welcomes the onset of cheaper corn prices again this week amid a live cattle market that's also trading higher. May feeders are down $0.07 at $205.30, August feeders are up $1.67 at $226.82 and September feeders are up $1.62 at $230.00. So long as the nature of the live cattle and corn markets doesn't change ahead of Thursday's close, the feeder cattle complex should have no issue rounding out the day higher.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is trading lower into Thursday's noon hour, even though the Supreme Court denied an appeal of the California mandate posed to add more space for breeding pigs in California. Pork producers say the mandate will add to the cost of bacon and other pork products.June lean hogs are down $0.12 at $84.95, July lean hogs are down $0.55 at $85.40, and August lean hogs are down $0.65 at $86.50. News broke midmorning that the Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to the California pork law which would mandate more space for breeding pigs and cost the pork industry billions of dollars.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 5/10/2023 is up $0.33 at $75.40, and the actual index for 5/9/2023 is up $0.43 at $75.07. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.27 with a weighted average of $76.59, ranging from $72.00 to $82.00 on 6,920 head and a five-day rolling average of $76.50. Pork cutouts total 125.88 loads with 113.53 loads of pork cuts and 12.35 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.04, $79.70.
Pork net sales of 30,000 mt for 2023 were down 39% from the previous week and 28% from the prior four-week average. The three primary buyers were Japan (9,900 mt), China (5,600 mt) and Mexico (5,500 mt).
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