Monday Midday Livestock Market Summary - Cattle on Feed Report Helps Turn the Cattle Contracts Higher

GENERAL COMMENTS:

Both the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts are trading higher into Monday's noon hour as traders' applause Friday's slightly bullish Cattle on Feed Report. The feeder cattle market is trading higher with boldness as its contracts are all well above $3.00 higher. March corn is down 8 1/2 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 191.02 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

I hate to put the cart before the horse, but it's seeming as if Friday's Cattle on Feed report could be giving the live cattle complex some much needed support, which is thankfully allowing all the live cattle contracts to trade higher into Monday's noon hour. It's entirely too early to say whether or not the market will shift its trend from lower to higher, but the day's upward movement is a nice trend either way. April live cattle are up $1.00 at $194.92, June live cattle are up $0.90 at $191.20 and August live cattle are up $1.02 at $190.00. New showlists appear to be lower in all major feeding states.

Last week, Southern live cattle traded at mostly $199, which is $4.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $315, which is $5.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 48,723 head. Of that, 89% (43,418 head) were committed to the nearby delivery while the remaining 11% (5,305 head) were committed to the deferred delivery option.

Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $2.97 ($313.74) and select up $1.07 ($303.63) with a movement of 35 loads (16.61 loads of choice, 5.69 loads of select, 5.50 loads of trim and 6.79 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

The feeder cattle complex hasn't sat around waiting idly to see what the live cattle market is going to do with Friday's Cattle on Feed report -- as it's trading well above $3.00 higher in all the contracts. March feeders are up $3.20 at $271.10, April feeders are up $3.22 at $270.77 and May feeders are up $3.27 at $269.20. More than anything, it's relieving and encouraging to see the spot March contract trading back above the market's 40-day moving average.

LEAN HOGS:

Although morning pork cutout values are higher, the lean hog complex isn't willing to shake last week's tumultuous downturn just yet and fully change its direction. The spot April contract is trading higher, but otherwise the deferred months are trending lower as the market wants to see continued consumer demand. What's potentially most exciting about the uptick in pork cutout values Monday morning is that the big jump isn't stemming from just one of the major cuts; rather, most of the major cuts are higher this morning. April lean hogs are up $0.02 at $87.70, June lean hogs down $0.25 at $100.37 and July lean hogs are down $0.10 at $101.85.

The projected lean hog index for 2/21/2025 is down $0.85 at $89.68, and the actual index for 2/20/2025 is down $0.69 at $90.53. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $1.29 with a weighted average price of $88.96, ranging from $87.00 to $90.00 on 663 head and a five-day rolling average of $91.69. Pork cutouts total 157.62 loads with 141.72 loads of pork cuts and 15.91 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.84, $98.91.