GENERAL COMMENTS:
The livestock complex was granted some additional support ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, as most of the contracts closed higher. Some light cash cattle trade developed, but prices held mostly steady with Tuesday's business. March corn is up 7 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $0.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 314.67 points and the NASDAQ is up 189.10 points.
**The markets will be closed on Thursday, Nov. 27, for the Thanksgiving holiday. Regular DTN commentary will resume Friday, Nov.28. Happy Thanksgiving to all our customers!**
LIVE CATTLE:
Pinpointing the exact reason why the cattle complex jumped significantly higher on Wednesday is challenging, and if the market had only traded $1.00 to $2.00 higher, I may have said that it was simply a pre-holiday run. However, given that the live cattle contracts rallied mostly $4.00 to $5.00 higher, I'm led to believe that the marketplace found comfort in what Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins said Tuesday afternoon in an interview with Lonesome Lands. A couple of major points were discussed in the interview: Rollins stated that when the U.S.-Mexico border reopens, not all ports will reopen at once and that "you will not see 1 million head of cattle show up overnight, it's going to be a slow and gradual process." Rollins also stated that the port in Arizona is likely to reopen first, as it's the furthest from any detected New World screwworm. Rollins also stated there's not an ag industry that she's more bullish about than cattle.
Needless to say, the industry found this to be promising news, as too much volatility has shaken the market over the last month. December live cattle closed $4.02 higher at $211.02, February live cattle closed $5.60 higher at $212.92 and April live cattle closed $5.67 higher at $214.25. There was some light clean-up trade noted in the North today, but prices remained mostly steady with Tuesday's trade. Throughout the week, North is at $330, which is $13.00 lower than last week's weighted average, and some light trade has been noted in the South, anywhere from $204 to mostly $215. However, not enough cattle have traded in the South to say that a true trend has developed.
Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 124,000 head, 4,000 head more than a week ago and 1,000 head more than a year ago.
Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $1.81 ($368.28) and select down $0.42 ($355.51) with a movement of 175 loads (121.36 loads of choice, 16.88 loads of select, 16.40 loads of trim and 20.75 loads of ground beef).
FRIDAY'S CATTLE CALL: Steady. Given that cattle have traded in both regions, it's likely that prices will remain steady with the week's trend.
FEEDER CATTLE:
The feeder cattle complex again followed closely with the action seen in the live cattle market, which led the complex to a fruitful $8.00 rally. More than anything, traders seemed to note the positive remarks made by Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and took that as the support they needed to drive the contracts higher again. January feeders closed $8.05 higher at $315.12, March feeders closed $8.17 higher at $309.05 and April feeders closed $8.30 higher at $307.70. The CME feeder cattle index 11/25/2025: down $2.09, $329.88.
LEAN HOGS:
The lean hog complex had a notable rally too throughout Wednesday's trade as traders were pleased to see the uptick in pork demand and also found increased technical support. December lean hogs closed $1.97 higher at $80.42, February lean hogs closed $2.37 higher at $81.37 and April lean hogs closed $2.40 higher at $85.35. It was rather impressive to note on this afternoon's cutout report that every single major cut closed higher for the day. Hog prices closed higher on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, up $1.85 with a weighted average price of $73.57 on 2,018 head. Pork cutouts totaled 381.18 loads with 327.75 loads of pork cuts and 53.43 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.00, $94.25. Wednesday's slaughter is estimated at 487,000 head, 7,000 head less than a week ago and 2,000 head less than a year ago. The CME lean hog index 11/24/2025: down $0.80, $82.81.
FRIDAY'S HOG CALL: Lower. Packers won't likely show much interest in the market on Friday.
No comments:
Post a Comment