GENERAL COMMENTS:
The cash cattle market has yet to trade as packers and feedlots continue to go toe to toe, with neither party seeming interested in caving to the other's pressure just yet. Bids are currently being offered in both regions, but no cattle have traded yet. December corn is up 8 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $1.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 439.57 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading lower as cattle enthusiasts are seeming to wait on one thing: this week's cash cattle trade to develop. Feedlots are doing one heck of a job of managing the pressure that packers are turning on them, as they realize that this week's slaughter pace has been dialed back and that packers have plenty of pre-committed cattle available to them through the month of July. However, feedlots remain in a manageable position as their cattle are still relatively green and their showlists are current. If they were sitting on cattle that needed to the leave the feedlot immediately, feedlots would be taking a more desperate approach to marketing their cattle, but they have time on their side. It's also equally as important to keep in mind that packers were only able to buy 56,000 head out of the cash market last week and, with cold storage supplies being limited, they can't afford to be too absent from the market and forgo beef sales. No asking prices have been listed in either region and only a couple of bids have recently surfaced. Bids of $175 to $176 live are currently being offered in Kansas, and a dressed bid of $290 is being offered in Nebraska, but still feedlots are passing on those bids and are hungry for more. August live cattle are down $0.72 at $174.22, October live cattle are down $0.90 at $176.97 and December live cattle are down $1.12 at $181.07.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $1.24 ($321.54) and select down $2.23 ($290.46) with a movement of 61 loads (30.10 loads of choice, 16.58 loads of select, 4.77 loads of trim and 9.06 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
With the nearby corn contracts pushing a whopping $0.09 to $0.19 rally, the feeder cattle complex has tucked its tail as it retreats lower into Thursday's noon hour. August feeders are down $2.82 at $241.87, September feeders are down $3.10 at $245.05 and October feeders are down $3.10 at $246.80. The market is having an especially tough time deflecting the pressures added by the corn complex without the support of either the live cattle or cash cattle markets.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex was again rallying aggressively early Thursday morning, but given that pork cutout values are down at midday, the market's boldness has simmered. The futures complex is still trading higher, but most of the contracts are only seeing mild gains. The cash sector is seeing relatively strong interest given that prices have jumped $2.26 and right at 8,349 head have already traded. July lean hogs are up $0.27 at $101.55, August lean hogs are up $0.95 at $98.40 and October lean hogs are up $1.70 at $82.27. Morning cutout values can be fickle, but it's not surprising to see the $9.90 drop in the belly, but the butt also fell $9.36. It will be interesting to see how Thursday afternoon prices fair.
The projected lean hog index for July 5 is up $1.39 at $96.07 and the actual index for July 3 is up $0.37 at $94.68. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $2.26 with a weighted average price of $100.75, ranging from $98.00 to $103.00 on 8,349 head and a five-day rolling average of $98.69. Pork cutouts total 157.89 loads with 140.79 loads of pork cuts and 17.10 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.31, $106.38.
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