GENERAL COMMENTS:
It was a strong day for all the livestock contracts as traders jumped into Monday's market and felt confident enough to push the contracts higher. Heading into Tuesday's trade, the market is hopeful grain prices remain stabilized and traders keep with their recent enthusiasm. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $0.63 with a weighted average of $102.20 on 5,129 head. May corn is down 14 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $7.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 1.05 points and NASDAQ is down 262.59 points.
Note: Another case of (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) was found in a commercial chicken flock in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.
LIVE CATTLE:
It was a typical quiet day for the live cattle complex with no cash cattle interest developed yet; but the futures market did close higher! April live cattle closed $3.02 higher at $140.32, June live cattle closed $2.75 higher at $135.70 and August live cattle closed $1.60 higher at $136.67. The push in the futures market stemmed from stabilizing grain prices and support found at $136.00. While feedlots know they still will have a challenging week as packers intend to run lighter schedules to allow for cooler cleaning, the uptick in the futures market gives them hope they may be able to keep the market fully steady. New showlists appear to be mixed, somewhat higher in Kansas, higher in Texas, and lower in Nebraska/Colorado. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 125,000 head -- steady with a week ago and 17,000 head less than a year ago.
Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 83,264 head. Of that, 76% (63,306 head) were committed for nearby delivery, while the remaining 24% (19,958 head) were committed for deferred delivery.
Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $0.80 ($255.51) and select up $0.83 ($249.94) with a movement of 83 loads (47.76 loads of choice, 14.41 loads of select, 9.07 loads of trim and 11.71 loads of ground beef).
TUESDAY'S CASH CATTLE CALL: Steady to $1.00 higher. With boxed beef prices showing support and with the futures market showing some improvement, feedlots may be able to keep the market fully steady this week.
FEEDER CATTLE:
With corn, wheat and soybeans all closing lower, feeder cattle contracts leaped to higher prices and managed to close the day mostly $3.00 to $4.00 higher. The big question is how will the rest of the week perform? With the contracts trading well under the 40- and 100-day moving averages, there's plenty of upside potential if traders feel comfortable enough to take the complex higher. From a fundamental sense, input costs and the concern of drought is still problematic. But, still, with the staggering rates at which cows are being killed, simple supply/demand mechanics bode extremely well for buyers who are looking to sell feeders this fall. March feeders closed $2.67 higher at $155.95, April feeders closed $4.42 higher at $162.40 and May feeders closed $3.72 higher at $167.45. At West Point Feeder Cattle Auction in West Point, Nebraska, compared to two weeks ago on a run of 1,678 head steers under 650 pounds sold $2.00 to $4.00 lower, but steers over 650 pounds traded $1.00 to $5.00 higher. Most weights of heifers under 800 pounds sold steady to $3.00 higher, but 600-pound heifers were highly sought after as they consistently sold $6.00 higher. Heifers over 800 pounds $2.00 to $5.00 lower. The CME Feeder Cattle Index 3/11/2022: down $0.25, $152.31.
LEAN HOGS:
Cash prices closed higher, cash volumes were strong for a Monday, pork cutout values closed higher, and slaughter was aggressive. Yet, the futures still weren't ready to commit to a robust rally. While Monday's fundamentals all aligned for a strong, upscaling day, traders know that demand from now until mid-May is questionable. Until traders can see that demand is going to support a higher trend constantly, they'll likely keep this timid behavior in the futures market. April lean hogs closed $0.52 lower at $102.20, June lean hogs closed $1.17 higher at $119.35 and July lean hogs closed $0.75 higher at $118.37. Pork cutouts totaled 347.83 loads with 311.75 loads of pork cuts and 36.08 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.64, $103.19. Monday's slaughter is estimated at 479,000 head -- 12,000 head more than a week ago and 3,000 head less than a year ago. The CME Lean Hog Index 3/10/2022: up $0.85, $100.76.
TUESDAY'S CASH HOG CALL: Steady to somewhat higher. With packers again looking for hogs in Monday's market, that tells us they still need hogs and prices are likely to get higher this week.
No comments:
Post a Comment