GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading lower into Thursday's noon hour as traders look to the market's fundamentals for support but aren't finding the reassurance that they'd like to see. Some light trade is currently being reported in Nebraska, but largely the cash cattle market has yet to see cattle trade. December corn is down 1/2 cent per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 9.88 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is again trading lower as traders tap their feet patiently waiting to see how the cards land in this week's cash cattle market. With packers unable to buy a plethora of cattle in last week's negotiated cash cattle trade, it's likely that they'll have to engaged in this week's market more than they'd ideally like to. A light trade is just now being reported in Nebraska at $290, which is $3.00 lower than last week's weighted average, and live in Nebraska at $182 to $184 which is $1.00 to $3.00 lower. On Wednesday in Iowa, some cattle traded at $184 to $187 live, and some dressed trade at $290, and some heifers did trade in Kansas at $179 Wednesday afternoon, but neither of these sales were large enough to say that any sort of a market tone has been set. Asking prices in the South remain firm at $181 to $182 and in the South at $292 to $294. October live cattle are down $0.60 at $179.45, December live cattle are down $0.82 at $183.40 and February live cattle are down $0.77 at $187.57.
Beef net sales of 18,200 mt for 2023 were up 59% from the previous week and 35% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were China (6,100 mt), Japan (3,400 mt) and South Korea (2,400 mt).
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.72 ($314.39) and select up $1.49 ($291.02) with a movement of 47 loads (20.50 loads of choice, 6.88 loads of select, 12.48 loads of trim and 7.23 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is again trading lower as traders wait to see what feedlots accomplish in this week's cash market. Yes, corn prices are trading slightly higher, but with nearby contracts only fronting a mere steady to $0.03 rally, the market is mainly trading lower as traders want and need to see continued support from the live cattle/cash cattle market. September feeders are down $1.47 at $251.15, October feeders are down $1.40 at $253.82 and November feeders are down $1.37 at $255.32.
LEAN HOGS:
Even though cash prices and midday pork cutout values are higher, traders aren't finding enough fundamental support in the market to deem it appropriate push the contracts any higher after Wednesday's significantly higher move. October lean hogs are down $1.17 at $82.42, December lean hogs are down $0.82 at $74.27 and February lean hogs are down $0.60 at $78.50. Even if pork cutout values do close sharply higher, it's unlikely that traders will move the contracts much beyond Wednesday's closing price as they're going to need to see some long-term continued support in pork cutout values before they push much higher.
The projected lean hog index for Aug. 30 is down $1.41 at $89.26, and the actual index for Aug. 29 is down $1.74 at $90.67. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $3.31 with a weighted average price of $83.80, ranging from $70.00 to $98.00 on 1,363 head and a five-day rolling average of $82.01. Pork cutouts total 111.00 loads with 92.09 loads of pork cuts and 18.91 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.61, $92.73.
Pork net sales of 36,900 mt for 2023 were up 12% from the previous week and 45% from the prior four-week average. The three largest buyers were Mexico (12,000 mt), China (7,800 mt) and South Korea (5,500 mt).
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