GENERAL COMMENTS:
It's usually feared that during the holiday
weeks that contracts will give away and cash cattle trade is nowhere to
be found. This week ended up treating the lean hog and cattle sectors
quite well. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Afternoon Hog
Report, down $0.35 with a weighted average of $42.54. March corn is up 8
cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $3.10. The Dow Jones
Industrial Average is down 112.59 points and NASDAQ is down 39.71
points.
From Friday to Friday livestock futures scored
the following changes: December live cattle up $2.53, February live
cattle up $2.35; January feeder cattle up $3.00, March feeder cattle up
$3.43; December lean hogs up $0.80, February lean hogs up $0.52.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle contracts did a number this week on
posting gains and not taking the week easy just because of a holiday.
Much like the feeder cattle contracts, live cattle contracts rallied
Monday through Wednesday, and then more or less gave Wednesday's gains
back on Friday. December live cattle are down $0.22 at $121.20, February
live cattle are down $0.50 at $126.20 and April live cattle are down
$0.50 at $126.37. Cash cattle trade was rather impressive this week.
Packers came in swinging low, but eventually divvied up the cash and
paid more this week than they did last week. Most cash cattle sold for
$187, $3.00 stronger than last week. Live cattle sold anywhere from $118
to $120, $2.00 to $4.00 higher than last week.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down
$0.12 ($232.12) and select down $0.30 ($210.34) with 65 loads total
(32.20 loads of choice, 14.20 loads of select, 8.04 loads of trim and
10.33 loads of ground beef). Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 2,000
head, and Friday's slaughter is estimated at 115,000 head, up 1,000 head
from a week ago and down 7,000.
MONDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00
higher. Next week will be a bit of a bet. Packers will need cattle
because they didn't buy enough this week to fully meet their needs.
However, they may play their fiddle and the market's psychology too, and
argue that cattle are carrying mud. Nevertheless, trade will most
likely heat up in the later part of the week, most likely be for higher
money.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Some sale barns took the week off as they knew
buyers wanted to spend time with their families instead of beating down
icy roads to bid on calves, and rightfully so. This storm will wreak
havoc on selling calves as shipping induces stress, as does new feed and
the jostling of hauling to and from. The board performed exceptionally
well on the feeder cattle side of things, etching higher Monday through
Wednesday and then closing lower on Friday. January feeders closed $1.05
lower at $142.27, March feeders closed $0.90 lower at $143.02 and April
feeders closed $0.65 lower at $144.97. The CME feeder cattle index
11/28/19: down $0.60 at $145.11.
LEAN HOGS:
Hey, hey, hey, the early bird doesn't always get
the worm. Lean hog contracts have been more or less steady to slightly
lower at times, but come Friday, contracts got with it and the spot
contract rallied over $1.00. Cash trade has push hard to gravitate
towards the $43.00 mark and make some progression this week. Pork
cutouts totaled 213.75 loads with 181.28 loads of pork cuts and 32.47
loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.87 at $81.85. The CME lean hog
index 11/27/19: not available at this time.
MONDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady. Packers will
have some incentive to keep processing pork cuts with cutout prices
higher, but we all know that market ready hogs are a dime a dozen right
now, making it hard for producers to push prices much higher.
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| #completecalfcare |
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