GENERAL COMMENTS:
All in all, it was a positive day for the livestock complex ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday. The cash cattle market traded anywhere from $3.00 to $5.00 higher, and traders were supportive of all three of the livestock markets through Wednesday's close. March corn is steady and January soybean meal is up $4.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 138.25 points
**The markets are closed on Thanksgiving Day. Regular DTN market commentary will resume on Friday, November 29.**
LIVE CATTLE:
There are good days in the market, there are bad days in the market, and then there are great days in the marketplace – and today's close may just amount to being a great day for the live cattle complex. Between the board's upward momentum through the day's end, to the $3.00 to $5.00 advancement in the cash market -- cattlemen have little to gripe about. The only thing that could have potentially made the day sweeter is if boxed beef prices had closed higher, but given where prices sit compared to years past, we shouldn't even find fault there. December live cattle closed $1.10 higher at $188.00, February live cattle closed $0.90 higher at $188.60 and April live cattle closed $0.87 higher at $190.42. I thought that the week's cash cattle trade may be delayed until Friday, but packers are in need of cattle desperately enough to have had to advance the market early in the week. Throughout the day Southern live cattle were sold for mostly $190 which is $3.00 to $4.00 higher than last week's weighted average, and Northern dressed cattle sold at mostly $295 which is $5.00 higher than last week's weighed average. What was especially interesting about the sales made in Nebraska was that packers committed the cattle for delivery on the weeks of 12/2/2024, and 12/16/2024, which again indicates that packers were indeed short bought coming into this week which is why we saw so much interest in the cash market. Asking prices for cattle left in the South are firm at $190 and in the North at $298.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 124,000 head -- 3,000 head less than a week ago and 2,000 head less than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.31 ($311.26) and select down $1.19 ($274.30) with a movement of 175 loads (114.95 loads of choice, 27.80 loads of select, 9.22 loads of trim and 22.72 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady with the week's trend. Given that cattle have now sold in both regions, it's likely that any more cleanup trade that develops will be steady with the week's trend.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle market has had no issue trading higher this week upon seeing the fed cash cattle market trading higher and with the market support that came from the announcement on Monday that cattle imports from Mexico are going to be restricted due to a positive case of New World screwworm. January feeders closed $0.67 higher at $258.77, March feeders closed $0.82 higher at $257.30 and April feeders closed $0.90 higher at $258.40. At the Tri-State Livestock Auction in McCook, Nebraska, compared to last week steers under 600 pounds traded anywhere from $6.00 to $18.00 higher but steers over 600 pounds sold $8.00 to $10.00 lower. Heifers traded anywhere from $2.00 to $15.00 stronger. Feeder cattle supply over 600 pounds was 45%. The CME feeder cattle index 11/26/2024: up $0.23, $255.94.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex rounded out the day mostly higher, although the market's spot and nearby contracts did close slightly lower. All in all, the lean hog complex has had an impressive week as most of the contracts were able to score new contract highs earlier this week -- but with pork cutout values lagging, it comes as no surprise that the nearby contracts are trading mildly lower as traders won't want to get too bullish on the markets amid mixed fundamental signals. As was the case this morning, the belly (down $9.49) and the ham (down $5.79) were the biggest reasons why the afternoon carcass price closed lower. December lean hogs closed $0.70 lower at $82.40, February lean hogs closed $0.35 lower at $87.92 and April lean hogs closed $0.05 higher at $91.62. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.40 with a weighted average price of $87.46 on 4,743 head. Pork cutouts totaled 362.37 loads with 323.39 loads of pork cuts and 38.98 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $2.21, $88.94. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 488,000 head – steady with a week ago and 5,000 head more than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 11/25/2024: up $0.44, $85.90.
FRIDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. Given that pork cutout values are trading lower and that packers were modestly aggressive in the cash market earlier this week it likely means that Friday's cash market won't see much interest from packers.
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