GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a mixed day for the livestock complex as the cattle contracts mainly remained lower through the day's end, but the lean hog complex maintained its higher position through the day's close. What was potentially most eye-catching throughout the day was the afternoon choice cuts jump of $8.09. May corn is down 6 3/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 46.03 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was a mixed day for the live cattle complex as the contracts were able to improve slightly ahead of the day's close. Overall, the market's tone remains cautious in a technical sense as traders continue to wait to see what the cash cattle market does later this week and if it will lend the market any support or not. April live cattle closed $0.47 higher at $206.37, June live cattle closed $0.17 higher at $202.32 and August live cattle closed $0.17 lower at $198.87. No cash cattle trade developed throughout the day, but asking prices are noted in the South at $212 plus. Trade will likely be delayed until Thursday or Friday again this week.
Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 124,000 head -- 1,000 head more than a week ago and 2,000 head more than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $8.09 ($335.19) and select up $0.47 ($314.05) with a movement of 126 loads (76.49 loads of choice, 16.20 loads of select, 24.07 loads of trim and 9.62 loads of ground beef).
WEDNESDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady/somewhat higher. With packers able to commit most of last week's purchase to the nearby delivery, prices could likely hold steady this week. On the other hand, there's also the chance that prices could trend even higher as boxed beef demand continues to charge higher and higher, and packers don't want to be short-bought cattle and miss out on an opportunity to market any beef in this market.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Even though some of the nearby live cattle contracts were able to close slightly higher ahead of the day's end, the feeder cattle complex didn't find the same luck ahead of today's close. April feeders closed $0.40 lower at $284.85, May feeders closed $0.72 lower at $284.12 and August feeders closed $0.52 lower at $287.97. Until something surfaces positive in the fed cattle market, it's likely that traders remain skeptical of overly supporting the feeder cattle complex following last week's powerful rally. At Oklahoma National Stockyards in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma compared to last week feeder steers and steer calves traded $4.00 to $8.00 higher, except those weighing 600 to 700 pounds, which traded up to $15.00 higher. Feeder heifers sold $3.00 to $10.00 higher and heifer calves sold $5.00 to $12.00 higher. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 70%. The CME feeder cattle index 3/24/2025: up $0.26, $287.25.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex was able to successfully close higher as the market was pleased to see continued support this afternoon in both cash sales and pork cutout values. Given that the spot April contract is still far enough away from its resistance threshold of $88.00, traders were simply able to focus on the market's positive fundamentals and trade the contracts higher. April lean hogs closed $0.95 higher at $86.65, June lean hogs closed $0.45 higher at $96.25 and July lean hogs closed $0.50 higher at $97.27. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $1.64 with a weighted average price of $88.65 on 8,580 head. Pork cutouts totaled 375.51 loads with 341.25 loads of pork cuts and 34.26 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.18, $97.55. Tuesday's slaughter is estimated at 490,000 head -- 2,000 head more than a week ago and 10,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 3/21/2025: down $0.09, $88.79.
WEDNESDAY'S HOG CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. Given that packers were aggressive again today, it's safe to assume that they were somewhat short-bought hogs headed into this week and could need some more supply before the week's over still.
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