GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is seeing mixed interest heading into Wednesday's noon hour as the cattle contracts are looking past the slight uptick in corn prices as they climb higher into the day's afternoon. Meanwhile, the lean hog complex continues to struggle as pork demand remains scant. December corn is up 8 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $5.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 146.08 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The back-and-forth trading saga continues in the live cattle complex as the live cattle market is pushing for higher prices heading into Wednesday's noon hour. Traders are looking at the market's strong demand and believe that's a valid enough reason, coupled with the market's bullish fundamental outlook, to push the contracts higher into today's afternoon. Still, no cash cattle trade has developed and with bids and asking prices still elusive, trade could be delayed until Thursday at this point. October live cattle are up $0.52 at $179.15, December live cattle are up $0.25 at $183.40 and February live cattle are up $0.35 at $187.65.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.43 ($317.48) and select up $2.55 ($292.06) with a movement of 62 loads (36.51 loads of choice, 17.19 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 8.51 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex seems to be looking at Wednesday's market saying, "Ok, we can trade higher on the fact that feeder cattle demand is strong and given the recent onset of slightly higher tones in the live cattle contracts, but if any of that support dissipates, the pressure from the corn complex may not be able to be overlooked." Heading into Wednesday's noon hour corn prices are trading $0.07 to $0.08 higher which isn't a massive concern given the market's recent decline, but feeders never feel overly confident ahead of harvest when corn prices do flirt with trade higher. September feeders are trading steady at $249.00, October feeders are up $0.15 at $251.37 and November feeders are up $0.15 at $252.42.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is continuing to traipse lower as slightly higher corn prices and a lack of demand don't bode well for the market. October lean hogs are down $0.37 at $79.20, December lean hogs are down $0.82 at $71.52 and February lean hogs are down $0.75 at $75.80. At this point, the market's sideways/somewhat lower trading range is expected to continue until traders find some better fundamental support -- especially in the form of better pork demand, which could be a challenging request given the uncertainty of Prop 12 going into state later this year.
The projected lean hog index for 8/22/2023 is down $0.67 at $97.37, and the actual index for 8/21/2023 is down $0.77 at $98.04. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.84 with a weighted average price of $90.00, ranging from $86.00 to $94.00 on 2,158 head and a five-day rolling average of $90.99. Pork cutouts total 169.78 loads with 148.40 loads of pork cuts and 21.38 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.64, $102.01.
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