GENERAL COMMENTS:
Thus far it's been a supportive day for the livestock complex as all three of the markets are trading higher into Friday's noon hour. The market hasn't seen any new cash cattle sales reported and it's looking like the bulk of this week's trade is done. May corn is down 5 3/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $3.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 10.92 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is back to trading higher as traders have found some technical support in the market and seem to be at terms with the fact that cash cattle traded steady to $2.00 lower this week. Ideally cattlemen would have liked to keep the market fully steady as opposed to seeing Northern dressed cattle trade $2.00 lower; but thankfully the demand shown in strong boxed beef prices has eased that thorn a bit. April live cattle are up $1.62 at $186.97, June live cattle are up $1.60 at $182.82 and August live cattle are up $1.07 at $181.77. No new cash cattle trade has been reported Friday morning and it looks like the majority of the week's business is done. Throughout the week, Southern live cattle have traded at mostly $183, which is steady with last week's weighted average, and Northern dressed cattle have traded at mostly $290, which is $2.00 lower than last week's weighted average.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.91 ($306.11) and select up $1.81 ($295.99) with a movement of 69 loads (53.61 loads of choice, 5.03 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 10.11 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex is back to trading higher as the market is taking comfort in the fact that corn prices are trading slightly lower and live cattle contracts are back to trading higher. March feeders are up $2.95 at $251.95, April feeders are up $3.05 at $256.77 and May feeders are up $2.65 at $258.77. Traders gave little attention to the feeder cattle complex earlier in the week; but after some days of slightly lower closes, the market has seemed to find technical support, which is helping the complex trade higher into Friday's noon hour.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is trading mostly higher as the market has found support around the $86.00 threshold. Some of the market's deferred contracts are trading slightly lower, but strong export support seems to be helping the contracts trade higher currently. April lean hogs are up $0.10 at $86.72, June lean hogs are up $0.35 at $100.55 and July lean hogs are up $0.25 at $101.27. Pork cutout values are sharply higher at noon, largely driven by the $25.97 gain the belly.
The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 2/29/2024 is up $0.11 at $80.26, and the actual index for 2/28/2024 is up $0.24 at $80.15. Hog prices on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report average $71.42, ranging from $67.50 to $74.50 on 885 head and a five-day rolling average of $71.28. Pork cutouts total 218.57 loads with 208.87 loads of pork buts and 9.71 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $5.32, $95.54.
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