GENERAL COMMENTS:
The feeder cattle complex continues to drown in agony as grain futures soar higher; but the live cattle and lean hog markets are beginning to rebuild. The cash cattle market hasn't seen any interest develop as of yet and it is likely trade won't develop until Wednesday or later. May corn is up 35 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $7.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 638.13 points and NASDAQ is down 175.52 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The nearby live cattle contracts are lagging behind modestly as the deferred contracts set out to regain some of what the market recently lost. April live cattle are down $0.50 at $140.97, June live cattle are down $0.17 at $137.52 and August live cattle are up $0.40 at $137.55. Any day now boxed beef prices are expected to bottom, which will lend the live cattle market some positive morale. It's not like packers have been scraping their last pennies together to make things work; but stronger box prices will give them more money to play with and hopefully some of those dollars will trickle into the cash market. The cash cattle market hasn't seen any interest yet and it's likely the week's business doesn't get underway until Wednesday or later. Asking prices are noted at $144-plus in the South; the North has yet to disclose what they'd like to get. Showlists are lighter throughout the main feeding regions, which bodes well for feedlots. I know the world sits anxiously amid the uncertainy with Russia/Ukraine, but cattle still have to trade.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.37 ($257.14) and select down $1.39 ($252.02) with a choice/select spread of $5.12 and a movement of 66 loads (42.96 loads of choice, 8.06 loads of select, 4.15 loads of trim and 10.37 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The theme continues to remain the same for the feeder cattle contracts -- as Russia continues to blast Ukraine the grain markets shoot higher as they're uncertain what will happen to the grain commodities in Ukraine if Russia takes over. As if grain prices weren't already hard enough to pencil, feeders are left speechless about what to do at this point. March feeders are down $0.97 at $156.75, April feeders are down $2.00 at $160.07 and May feeders are down $2.20 at $165.60. If the live cattle complex can lend any support, the feeder cattle complex will gladly take it. But it is going to be tough for the market to offset the blows from the surge in grain prices at this point.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog contracts are back to rallying as the market found support around $103.50. The complex continues to watch and monitor the events unraveling with Russia/Ukraine, but the facts remain that supplies of market-ready hogs continue to be thin and domestic demand is supporting the market still. As Lent goes into effect Wednesday, pork cutout values could stall out. But, all-in-all, with the limited availability of product and the limited supplies in cold storage, the market will likely continue to support pork prices. April lean hog are up $2.17 at $105.67, June lean hogs are up $3.52 at $116.92 and July lean hogs are up $3.17 at $116.15.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 2/28/2022 is up $0.57 at $99.66 and the actual index for 2/25/2022 is up $0.69 at $99.09. Hog prices are higher on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.22 with a weighted average of $88.59 ranging from $87.00 to $101.00 on 3,218 head and a five-day rolling average of $87.83. Pork cutouts total 178.08 loads with 163.38 loads of pork cuts and 14.70 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.97, $111.30.
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