GENERAL COMMENTS:
Cattle futures are suffering another grueling day as the contracts endure technical losses and the cash cattle market just can't seem to gain any footing. Meanwhile, lean hog futures are soaking up another day of strong gains as the industry's shortage of market-ready hogs is driving prices higher while consumers are hungry for the meat. July corn is up 14 1/2 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $2.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 109.87 points and NASDAQ is down 20.80 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Seeing live cattle futures trade lower is never a positive feeling for cattle enthusiasts but seeing cattle trade for lower money with delivery delayed for three weeks is even more painful. June live cattle are down $0.17 at $115.67, August live cattle are down $0.17 at $117.12 and August live cattle are down $0.20 at $117.10. There's been a moderate movement of cattle following the Fed Cattle Exchange and largely the market has shown prices about $1.00 lower than last week. Live cattle in the Southern Plains have sold for $118 to $119 and dressed cattle in the Northern Plains have sold mostly for $191. Most of the cattle that have sold in Nebraska aren't scheduled for delivery until 5/17/2021.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.40 ($292.39) and select up $1.04 ($280.57) with a movement of 79 loads (49.99 loads of choice, 11.08 loads of select, 8.49 loads of trim and 9.53 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
When the corn market rally was contained to just the May contract, the feeder cattle contracts felt confident enough to move higher. But once the corn rally grew to the July and September contracts, the feeder cattle contracts grew worried and are now trading fully lower into Wednesday afternoon. May feeders are down $1.77 at $134.07, August feeders are down $1.27 at $148.80 and September feeders are down $1.02 at $151.17. Wednesday's pressure didn't seem like it was going to be overbearing when the day initially started, but once cash cattle started selling for lower prices and the corn market kept on scaling higher, the feeder cattle contracts waved their white flag.
LEAN HOGS:
Even though lean hog futures are getting extremely close to testing resistance levels once again, the lean hog market continues to march on seeming to be unpressured at this point as the complex sees steady $1.00 to $2.00 gains. June lean hogs are up $2.05 at $108.72, July lean hogs are up $2.27 at $107.60 and August lean hogs are up $1.87 at $103.97. It's not surprising to see the day's average hog prices slightly lower after Tuesday's stout advancements but looking at the ranges in the cash bids tells a whole new story. The top bid of $118 jumped $1.50 from Tuesday's midday report, which continues to show just how slim supplies of market-ready hogs truly are.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 4/27/2021 is down $0.38 at $107.01, and the actual index for 4/26/2021 is up $0.22 at $107.39. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $1.85 lower with a weighted average of $109.10, ranging from $105.49 to $118.00 on 4,820 head and a five-day rolling average of $108.15. Pork cutouts total 138.64 loads with 123.83 loads of pork cuts and 14.81 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.81, $109.87.
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