GENERAL COMMENTS:
Cattle contracts had a mostly lower day while the lean hog contracts kicked it in high gear and traded higher. Hog prices closed higher on the National Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.46 with a weighted average of $34.97 on 6,141 head sold. July corn is up 1 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $0.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 39.44 points and NASDAQ is down 0.63 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Live cattle contracts had a mostly lower day with a few midsummer contracts trading mildly higher. June closed $1.00 lower at $82.92, August closed $0.10 higher at $88.45 and October closed $0.07 higher at $93.55. A moderate trade happened in the North Thursday afternoon with cattle trading at $160, which is roughly $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Some trade also developed in Kansas at $100, which was $3.00 lower, and a handful of cattle traded in Texas for $100 as well.
Cause and effect seems to be more and more important to understand right now. As boxed beef prices shatter past historical high marks almost daily, it's a new "high mark" that makes your stomach turn. Cattle producers love to see beef demand high and consumers eager to get the finest products, but not when it's driven by the fact that retailers are struggling to get the meat they need in order to keep parts -- or fractions -- of counters stocked. May has historically been one of the biggest grilling seasons of the year as folks are ready to get out of their houses, enjoy the spring sunshine and kick the summer off to a good start. As we near prime grilling season, it's concerning that consumers may have to choose different options as the shelves are limited.
Boxed beef prices close higher: choice up $8.54 ($284.29) and select up $11.87 ($272.89) with a movement of 121 loads (84.22 loads of choice, 12.86 loads of select, 5.64 loads of trim and 18.13 loads of ground beef). Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 84,000 head, 8,000 head less than a week ago and 37,000 head less than a year ago.
FRIDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that there has been trade in most regions already this week, trade will mostly keep with the markets trend of what has already traded.
FEEDER CATTLE:
Feeder cattle contracts closed the day around $1.00 lower. May feeders closed $0.60 higher at $117.27, August feeders closed $0.82 lower at $126.37 and September feeders closed $1.12 lower at $127.50. Heading into spring and summer, ranchers look at the current market conditions and are praying for a good grass year as many cow-calf operations are holding onto more calves than what they had planned on. Thankfully, interest in green, lighter conditioned yearlings is still stronger as buyers have flexibility with what they can do with them.
On Wednesday, at the Public Auction Yards in Billings, MT, compared to last week, steers weighing 600 to 899 pounds sold steady to $5.00 higher. All other weights of steers were too lightly tested to develop an accurate market trend, however, higher undertones were noticed. The best test for feeder heifers was for 650 to 699 pound heifers, which sold $3.00 to $7.00 higher, and all other weights were too lightly tested either this week or last to develop an accurate market trend, however, higher undertones were noticed. Several load lots were sold this week and were met with mostly good demand. Flesh conditions were mostly light to moderate. Very few fleshy offerings were seen this sale despite a large run of backgrounded offerings. The CME feeder cattle index 4/22/2020: not available at this time.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts closed the day with plenty of vigor and strengthened as the complex closed $2.00 to $3.00 higher. June lean hogs closed $3.72 higher at $51.62, July lean hogs closed $3.17 higher at $54.37 and August lean hogs closed $2.72 higher at $57.87. The board may have closed stronger, but it's hard to get excited when the key problems surrounding packing plant closures remain and will continue to affect the marketplace until they are resolved.
Pork cutouts total 253.41 loads with 216.99 loads of pork cuts and 36.43 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.39, $76.37. Thursday's slaughter is estimated at 375,000 head, 62,000 head less than a week ago and 94,000 head less than a year ago.
FRIDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Lower. Built up supply will make it increasingly hard for hog producers to market their hogs as packing plants are at a mere stand still as COVID-19 runs through their plants.
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