GENERAL COMMENTS:
All in all, it was a good day for the livestock complex as both the live cattle and lean hog markets closed higher, and the feeder cattle market seemed to retreat in preparation for Friday's Cattle on Feed report which ended up being rather supportive to the feeder cattle market. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog report, down $1.29 with a weighted average price of $88.49 on 1,268 head. May corn is up 6 3/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $5.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 211.02 points.
Friday to Friday livestock futures scored the following changes: April live cattle up $2.57, June live cattle up $4.20; April feeder cattle up $3.73, May feeder cattle up $7.80; June lean hogs up $2.75, July lean hogs up $2.23; May corn down $0.02, July corn down $0.04.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was a late trading week for the cash cattle market but given that prices traded steady in the South and only $1.00 lower in the North -- I'd say that feedlots managers have to be glad that they waited the week out and took their time marketing their showlists. It wasn't until around Friday's noon hour that trade finally began to develop which helped the live cattle contracts ease into Friday's afternoon with stronger tones. June live cattle closed $0.30 higher at $175.67, August live cattle closed $0.02 higher at $173.55 and October live cattle closed $0.02 higher at $176.75. The futures complex performed relatively well throughout the week given that the market's weekly fundamentals weren't all that supportive. Traders weren't willing to advance the market above the resistance threshold at $175.50 -- but they did send the market right up to that price point. Whether or not the market possesses enough strength to take out that $175.50 resistance level will again be a question for next week's market to answer. Throughout the week Norther dressed cattle traded at $292 which is $1.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average and Southern live cattle traded at $182 which is steady with the previous week's weighted average.
Friday's slaughter is estimated at 113,000 head -- 4,000 head more than a week ago and 5,000 head more than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 20,000 head. The week's total slaughter is estimated at 620,000 head -- which is 17,000 head more than a week ago and 5,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed mixed: choice down $0.13 ($295.67) and select up $1.56 ($290.83) with a movement of 126 loads (77.24 loads of choice, 20.01 loads of select, 16.21 loads of trim and 12.93 loads of ground beef).
MONDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. It was impressive that feedlots were able to keep the cash market from trading any lower than it did, which could potentially signal that packers need more cattle than they're letting on.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Even though Friday's feeder cattle market rounded out the week on a slightly lower note, all in all, the feeder cattle market's performance was strong throughout the week. Given that the live cattle complex closed slightly higher, it appears as though the feeder cattle market pulled back ahead of Friday's close in preparation for the Cattle on Feed report and with respect to the fact that corn prices were trading slightly higher. May feeders closed $0.55 lower at $242.00, August feeders closed $0.80 lower at $253.50 and September feeders closed $0.87 lower at $254.42. Given the sharp decline in placements on Friday's COF report, it's likely that the feeder cattle complex trades higher on Monday. You can access DTN's Cattle on Feed comments here:
The Weekly Oklahoma Cattle Auction Summary shared that compared to a week ago and throughout the entire state, steers and heifers over 700 pounds traded steady to $5.00 higher, but steers and heifers under 700 pounds sold $1.00 to $5.00 lower. Slaughter cows and bulls traded $6.00 lower. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 68%. The CME feeder cattle index 4/18/2024: not available at this time.
LEAN HOGS:
Upon seeing support in the day's pork cutout values, traders shot the lean hog contracts higher ahead of the week's end. June lean hogs closed $2.12 higher at $104.82, July lean hogs closed $2.12 higher at $106.47 and August lean hogs closed $2.27 higher at $104.05. The market was let down and disappointed in Thursday's export report, but the steady support in cutout values in Friday's market helped propel the contracts higher on Friday. What was potentially most impressive about the slight uptick in cutout values is that the afternoon carcass price was well supported by all the cuts -- not by any major jump in just one of the cuts. Pork cutouts totaled 214.37 loads with 196.96 loads of pork cuts and 17.41 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.13, $100.09. Friday's slaughter is estimated at 480,000 head -- 4,000 head less than a week ago and 17,000 head more than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 67,000 head. The CME lean hog index 4/17/2024: up $0.10, $91.46.
MONDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. Given that packers have been running slightly strong processing speeds, it's likely that cash prices will remain mostly steady until midweek when packers get more aggressive in the cash market.
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