GENERAL COMMENTS:
Time seems to be passing extremely slowly for the cattle complex as both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets are cautious ahead of Wednesday's Cattle Inventory report. Meanwhile, the lean hog complex is seeing ample support from fundamentals (higher cash, higher cutouts) so it is continuing to trade higher with ease. March corn is down 1/2 cent per bushel and March soybean meal is down $0.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 44.23 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Traders have their alarm clocks set and are ready for the release of this afternoon's Cattle Inventory report, which is expected to be bullish. The deferred contracts are still trading mildly higher, but the nearby contracts are modestly lower as a cautious buffer ahead of the report's release. There was a handful of trade reported late Tuesday afternoon at $176 in Kansas and $175 live and $275 dressed in Iowa, but not enough to really say any sort of trend has been established for the week. The vast majority of the week's trade will likely be delayed until Thursday. February live cattle are down $0.27 at $177.75, April live cattle are down $0.47 at $181.27 and June live cattle are down $0.02 at $179.20.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.09 ($296.16) and select up $0.31 ($287.36) with a movement of 65 loads (33.42 loads of choice, 8.82 loads of select, 12.93 loads of trim and 9.91 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Traders have eased their aggressive tone in the feeder cattle market as they patiently wait to see what comes of this afternoon's Cattle Inventory report. It's likely the report will showcase fewer beef cows, indicating the 2024 calf crop will be smaller too -- both of which should help strengthen the feeder cattle market. March feeders are down $0.80 at $240.52, April feeders are down $0.50 at $246.50 and May feeders are down $0.22 at $252.00.
LEAN HOGS:
It's been an easy decision for traders to continue to support the lean hog contracts as pork cutout values are higher and even cash prices are stronger Wednesday morning. February lean hogs are up $0.67 at $76.52, April lean hogs are up $0.30 at $85.20 and June lean hogs are up $0.50 at $98.25. Given the cash market has already seen over 2,000 head traded this morning, it's likely packers could continue to actively procure hogs throughout the day and finish up the majority of their cash buying for the week.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 1/30/2024 is up $0.90 at $72.38, and the actual index for 1/29/2024 is up $0.88 at $71.48. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog report, up $2.06 with a weighted average price of $62.36, ranging from $55.00 to $62.36 on 2,437 head and a five-day rolling average of $59.67. Pork cutouts total 189.00 loads with 160.63 loads of pork cuts and 28.37 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.33, $88.88.
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