GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex again rounded out the day in two very different realities as the cattle complex is enduring some technical pressure while the lean hog market continues to rally and thrive. Some cash cattle trade was noted throughout the day where prices traded anywhere from steady to $3.00 lower. December corn is down 2 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $0.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 91.51 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was another sobering day for the live cattle complex as the market ventured lower through Wednesday's end and seemed to have an effect on the cash cattle market too as some light business developed throughout the day. December live cattle closed $1.52 lower at $186.42, February live cattle closed $1.57 lower at $187.05 and April live cattle closed $1.50 lower at $187.60. A light trade was reported shortly after the noon hour as live cattle were trading for mostly $190 in the South, which is mostly steady with last week's weighted average. Live sales in the North were marked at $188 to $190 which is steady to $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average, but dressed sales were marked at mostly $296 to $298 which is steady to $3.00 lower than last week's weighted average. I was surprised to see feedlot managers willing to trade cattle this early in the week as overall their showlists are fairly current and this only allows for packers to continue to build up inventory around them and forgo needing to support the market more aggressively next week.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 124,000 head -- steady with a week ago and 2,000 head more than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $1.17 ($319.44) and select down $0.64 ($289.32) with a movement of 154 loads (82.49 loads of choice, 46.26 loads of select, 13.98 loads of trim and 11.72 loads of ground beef).
THURSDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that trade has already been noted in both regions, any more trade that develops throughout the week will likely be steady with the week's trend.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex didn't catch any sort of a breakthrough in Wednesday's trade as the market continued to dive lower as it watched the live cattle market continue to deteriorate. November feeders closed $1.10 lower at $245.50, January feeders closed $2.05 lower at $241.97 and March feeders closed $2.57 lower at $239.85. The spot January contract opened below the market's 100-day moving average and did round out the day below that threshold. It's unlikely that until the live cattle market again trades higher and finds technical stability the feeder cattle market will trade higher. At Philip Livestock Auction in Philip, South Dakota, compared to last week feeder steers weighing 400 to 450 pounds sold steady, steers weighing 450 to 550 pounds sold $4.00 to $6.00 higher, and steers weighing 550 to 600 pounds sold steady. Feeder heifers under 500 pounds sold steady to $2.00 higher, heifers weighing 500 to 600 pounds sold $4.00 to $6.00 higher and heifers weighing 800 to 850 pounds sold $3.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 14%. The CME feeder cattle index 10/29/2024: up $0.57, $250.06.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex was able to secure yet another day of higher prices as the market continues to chart into new territory as the complex is achieving new contract highs nearly daily at this point. December lean hogs closed $1.55 higher at $84.37, February lean hogs closed $0.32 higher at $85.70 and April lean hogs closed $0.27 higher at $88.05. Helping continue to push the market higher is the tremendous demand the market is seeing from consumers. Thankfully yet again today pork cutout values closed higher but today's higher carcass prices were solely because of the belly's $5.42 gain. It will be interesting to see what Thursday's export report yields and how the market reacts to the report if it's not undeniably bullish. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $1.09 with a weighted average price of $82.04 on 5,064 head. Pork cutouts totaled 251.17 loads with 215.68 loads of pork cuts and 35.49 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.41, $101.48. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 488,000 head -- 1,000 head less than a week ago and 6,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 10/28/2024: up $0.18, $85.73.
THURSDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady. With consumer demand remaining as strong as it is, packers could still be active in Thursday's cash market.
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