GENERAL COMMENTS:
Mondays can be mundane and boring, but today is anything but the status quo. All three of the livestock markets are trading higher into Monday's noon hour and given the tremendous support seen last week in the cattle complex, it's likely that traders will continue to support the contracts amid such powerful fundamental support. May corn is down 1 cent per bushel and May soybean meal is down $2.40. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 123.90 points and the NASDAQ is down 217.97 points.
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is continuing to lean into Monday trade, fully taking advantage of all the support traders are willing to lend. June live cattle are up $1.47 at $209.72, August live cattle are up $1.22 at $205.32 and October live cattle are up $1.12 at $203.10. Later this week, the spot April contract will expire, and the June live cattle contract will take front and center stage. Currently, the market's bullish push has already put the June contract at yet another new contract high. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas, but lower in Texas and Nebraska/Colorado.
Last week's cash cattle trade was delayed until Friday, and feedlot managers' patient marketing strategy paid dividends as prices were sharply higher. Live cattle in Kansas traded for mostly $213, which is $3 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Live cattle in Texas traded for mostly $212, which is $2 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Northern dressed cattle traded at mostly $342 to $343, which is $5 to $6 higher than the previous week's weighed average. Depending on what Monday's USDA reports share in regards to weighted averages, it's likely that these prices are new record highs for most of the areas.
Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $5.14 ($341.62) and select up $3.74 ($323.85) with a movement of 37 loads (19.78 loads of choice, 6.29 loads of select, 5.92 loads of trim and 4.61 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
It's been intriguing to watch the feeder cattle complex trade this morning as at the market's start, the spot August contract gapped higher, then shortly thereafter, traders filled in the gap but have since again pushed the contract back higher. The live cattle complex was thankful to see fed cash cattle prices trade higher last week, but the feeder cattle complex hasn't been short of support either as demand in the countryside has been red hot, with buyers knowing that the turn out season is rapidly approaching. May feeders are up $1.52 at $292.05, August feeders are up $0.65 at $294.92 and September feeders are up $0.55 at $294.10.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex is continuing to rally on the momentum which the market possessed last week. If traders are going to break through the resistance created last Friday in the spot June contract, they're going to need to see tremendous fundamental support again this week. And while midday pork cutout values are mildly higher, steady and stable demand is more of what they're looking for. June lean hogs are down $0.05 at $101.07, July lean hogs are up $0.12 at $101.30 and August lean hogs are up $0.17 at $99.25.
The projected lean hog index for 4/25/2025 is up $0.64 at $88.18, and the actual index for 4/24/2025 is up $0.27 at $87.54. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 847 head have traded this morning, and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $90.79. Pork cutouts total 167.72 loads with 136.45 loads of pork cuts and 31.26 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.10, $98.14.
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