Market News

Cattle futures end final session of year higher ahead of direct business

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle closed higher ahead of the start of widespread direct cash business. February live was up $1.12 at $231.60 and April was $1.22 higher at $232.20. January feeders were $.70 higher at $350.25 and March was up $.75 at $345.32.

Direct cattle markets were quiet. Asking prices were $232 on the live basis in the south, with no bids reported. Unless there was a late flurry of activity on Wednesday, widespread direct business will wait until Friday. Just a handful of sales were reported Tuesday at $355 dressed in Iowa, not enough to establish a trend. This week’s showlist looks at least somewhat larger than last week in all of the major feeding areas.

At the Winter Livestock Auction feeder cattle sale in Kansas, compared to the previous week two weeks ago, steers weighing less than 700 pounds were up $10 to $40 and steers weighing more than 700 pounds were steady to $2 higher. Feeder heifers weighing 650 pounds and below were $10 to $20 higher and heavier weight heifers were up $2 to $4. The USDA says one lot of 110 spayed heifers weighing 603 pounds sold at $384.50. Feeder receipts were below that previous test on the 17^th. 74% of the day’s run were feeder cattle, 65% of those were heifers, and 85% of all feeder cattle on offer weighed more than 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 Feeder steers weighing 700 to 750 pounds sold at $362 to $385 and 850-to-950-pound steers ranged from $326 to $338. Spayed Medium and Large 1 heifers weighing 600 to 700 pounds brought $350.50 to $384.50 and 700-to-800-pound heifers were reported at $333 to $338.50.

Boxed beef closed lower with heavy movement. Choice was down $.75 at $347.45 and Select beef was $.78 lower $342.38 for a spread of $5.07. The estimated cattle slaughter of 85,000 head was up 42,000 on the week with no comparison to a year ago.

Lean hog futures were mixed, mostly weak, on spread trade and profit taking. February live was down $.35 at $85.10 and April was $.27 lower at $89.90.

Cash hogs were steady to weak with light to moderate closing negotiated numbers at the major direct markets. Buyer demand has been limited this week by the general slowdown for the holidays and the recent trend in the wholesale market. It remains to be seen if there will be a bump in prices Friday as buyers try to get ahead of next week or if they’ll be content with the numbers they have on hand. The average barrow and gilt weight in the Iowa/Southern Minnesota/South Dakota reporting area for the week ending December 27^th was 294.2 pounds, a gain of 2.3 on the week and 1.9 on the year.

National direct barrows and gilts closed $.19 lower with a base price range of $57 to $73 for a weighted average of $70.19 and the Western Corn Belt was down $.57 at $69.81. Iowa/Southern Minnesota had no recent comparison with a weighted average of $69.08. Butcher hogs at Dorchester, Wisconsin were steady at $55. Illinois direct shows were steady at $34 to $46 on moderate demand for light offerings. Barrows and gilts were steady at $40 to $48 with moderate demand and offerings. Boars ranged from $12 to $22.

Pork closed $.39 lower at $93.74. Losses in picnics and hams canceled out the gains in loins, butts, ribs, and bellies. The estimated hog slaughter of 418,000 head was up 248,000 on the week with no comparison to a year ago.