Tuesday Midday Livestock Market Update - Cattle Contracts Trade Lower on JBS Cyberattack

GENERAL COMMENTS:

If it's not one thing -- packing plant fires or global pandemic -- it's another --cyberattacks. But as consumers yearn for more product in both pork and beef forms, slower processing speeds are only going to create a larger problem as prices could jump higher amid shortages. As for cattle, backed-up supplies are the last thing the industry wants to work through again. But please know, and please understand, the biggest mind-boggling question of this whole situation is, "How long will this last?" Monitoring the day's daily slaughter speeds will be more important now than before, as we all grasp for answers. July corn is up 31 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $2.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 93.62 points and NASDAQ is down 3.67 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

Live cattle futures dropped drastically lower Tuesday morning but have since tried to rationalize and trade level-headedly through the unknown. To be honest, the unknown is the most bothersome factor of this market. The market needs to see throughput greater than what was performed before Memorial Day. Now that the market remains in limbo, the packing sector is going to receive even more pressure. June live cattle are down $1.27 at $114.60, August live cattle are down $1.15 at $117.40 and October live cattle are down $0.37 at $123.32. New showlists are lower in the South, but higher in the North.

Boxed beef prices are unavailable due to packer submission problems.

FEEDER CATTLE:

Taking a hit from the market in the form of a double-whammy, feeder cattle futures are trying to make sense of the JBS's cyberattack like the rest of us, all while being faced with corn prices that are rallying near 30 cents higher. The market is still largely trading lower, but has calmed down from Tuesday morning's drastic panic where contracts were trading $3.00 and $4.00 lower. August feeders are down $1.57 lower at $149.77, September feeders are down $1.02 at $152.50 and October feeders are down $0.55 at $154.47.

LEAN HOGS:

Lean hog futures are weathering the storm of Tuesday's chaotic nature better than the cattle sector. June lean hogs are up $1.17 at $118.42, July lean hogs are up $0.65 at $120.00 and August lean hogs are up $1.60 at $117.82. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 5/27/2021 is up $0.36 at $113.44, and the actual index for 5/26/2021 is up $0.58 at $113.08. Hog prices on the National Direct Morning Hog Report are unavailable due to packer submission problems. Pork cutout prices are unavailable due to packer submission problems.