GENERAL COMMENTS:
Wednesday's market hasn't been what any of the livestock contracts had hoped for as all three of the markets are trading lower yet again. Unfortunately, that market's unsettled nature spooked feedlots into selling some cattle for prices $1.00 cheaper than last week's weighted average. May corn is up 6 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.60. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 677.91 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
Feedlots began to grow anxious Wednesday morning and let the fear of the market's recent lower trend spook them into selling cattle. This is nearly a dream come true for packers as they're able to get cattle bought cheaper and early in the week. Some live cattle have sold Wednesday morning for $164 in parts of the South, which is $1.00 cheaper than last week's market. A few live deals have also been reported in Eastern Nebraska for $164, which is also $1.00 cheaper than the live Northern trade that developed last week. Feedlots looked to the live cattle complex early this morning and were sickened to see that the downward trend in the live cattle complex has continued into Wednesday's market. April live cattle are down $1.52 at $161.52, June live cattle are down $1.25 at $156.50 and August live cattle are down $1.20 at $156.37.
The Fed Cattle Exchange Auction held reported seven lots (with all lots in Texas), totaling 1,002 head of cattle. None of which sold. Opening prices were at $162, high bids were at $162, but none of these met reserve prices of $164 to $165.50.
Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.88 ($285.03) and select down $1.05 ($273.51) with a movement of 86 loads (55.59 loads of choice, 9.26 loads of select, 9.33 loads of trim and 11.34 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
It's been another painstaking day for the feeder cattle contracts as the market continues to skate lower, not finding the support it needs from the live cattle market. Not helping matters either is the fact that nearby corn prices are seeing modest support help push their prices anywhere from steady to $0.06 higher. March feeders are down $1.47 at $188.47, April feeders are down $2.22 at $193.52 and May feeders are down $2.25 at $199.00.
LEAN HOGS:
It's been a rough and tough Wednesday morning for the lean hog complex as the contracts are falling anywhere from $1.00 to $2.00 lower and are currently testing support levels. April lean hogs are down $1.15 at $84.25, June lean hogs are down $2.27 at $99.30 and July lean hogs are down $2.10 at $101.85. It's surprising to see cash hog prices up as aggressively as they are given that pork cutout values have been lower and are again lower on Wednesday's midday report.
The projected lean hog index March 14 is up $0.04 at $79.93, and the actual index for March 13 is up $0.03 at $79.89. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning hog report, up $4.15 with a weighted average of $78.77, ranging from $72.00 to $82.00 on 6,130 head and a five-day rolling average of $76.91. Pork cutouts total 159.60 loads with 145.87 loads of pork cuts and 13.72 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.18, $86.19.
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