GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex is trading lower as the market finds little interest from traders. No cash cattle trade has developed and it's likely that trade will be delayed until later in the week. May corn is up 3 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 171.84 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is trading mildly lower as the market is in a holding spell like the rest of the livestock contracts. Traders have noted however that boxed beef prices are higher again and that the choice cut is well above $300.00. The additional strength of the boxed beef market could pressure packers to up chain speeds as they'd like to capitalize on good beef prices – but if they do so they'll likely have to pay slightly higher prices in this week's cash market again. No cash cattle trade has developed yet and it's likely that trade is delayed until Thursday or Friday. Asking prices in the South are noted at $185 to $186 but remain unestablished in the North. April live cattle are down $0.62 at $187.45, June live cattle are down $0.77 at $183.32 and August live cattle are down $0.77 at $182.42.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.45 ($302.24) and select up $2.73 ($290.72) with a movement of 58 loads (33.05 loads of choice, 6.31 loads of select, 8.99 loads of trim and 9.69 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is trading lower again as the market seems to be waiting for something -- whether that's a weaker tone in corn prices, some action in the cash cattle market, or a positive move in the live cattle contracts -- the market seems to be at a stalemate at this point in time. March feeders are down $0.95 at $252.10, April feeders are down $0.75 at $258.15 and May feeders are down $1.10 at $260.47.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex hasn't found much support in Tuesday's market as traders simply seem uninterested in doing much trading in the hog sector. April lean hogs are down $0.32 at $85.95, June elan hogs are down $0.47 at $99.37 and July lean hogs are down $0.10 at $100.45. With pork cutout values higher the market could see trader interest improve, but traders could also wait until later in the week when they see how export sales fair before they do much trading.
The projected lean hog index for 2/26/2024 is up $0.32 at $79.78, and the actual index for 2/23/2024 is up $0.36 at $79.46. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.61 with a weighted average price of $70.70, ranging from $67.00 to $72.50 on 1,614 head and a five-day rolling average of $72.29. Pork cutouts total 170.69 loads with 148.44 loads of pork cuts and 22.25 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.85, $92.84.
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