Market News

Cattle futures higher ahead of cash trade

At the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, live and feeder cattle ended the day higher, waiting on direct business to develop. December live cattle closed $.42 higher at $185.82 and February lives closed $.70 higher at $187.42.  January feeders closed $.30 higher at $244.32 and March feeder cattle closed $.50 higher at $242.25. 

Direct cash cattle trade was pretty quiet on Thursday.  Bids did surface at $186 live and $292 dressed.  Asking prices were firm at $190 to $192 live in the South, and the North was quiet.  The bulk of the week’s business will likely take place sometime on Friday.

At the Winter Livestock Auction in Kansas, feeder steers under 600 pounds were $10 higher and steers over 900 pounds were steady to $3 higher.  Heifers under 600 pounds were $5 higher and there weren’t enough heifer over 700 pounds for an accurate price comparison.  Receipts were down on the week and the year.  Feeder supply included 57% steers and 54% of the offering was over 600 pounds.  Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 555 to 596 pounds brought $285 to $310 and feeder steers 917 to 935 pounds brought $243 to $253.25.  Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 507 to 543 pounds brought $267.76 to $286 and feeder heifers 655 to 658 pounds brought $236 to $240.50. 

Boxed beef closed sharply lower with very light demand for heavy offerings.  Choice was $6.13 lower at $309.46 and Select closed $3.46 lower at $279.72.  The Choice/Select spread is $29.74. Estimated cattle slaughter was 125,000 head – up 4,000 on the week and up a little more than 1,000 on the year. 

Lean hog futures ended the day mixed, mostly higher with the steady to higher cash business and lower pork values during the session. December lean hogs closed $.92 lower at $81.20 and February lean hogs closed $.15 higher at $85.30. 

Cash hogs closed sharply higher with a fairly light negotiated run. Processors got a little more aggressive in their procurement efforts Thursday afternoon to move more numbers.  The industry continues to monitor the availability of market-ready hogs and hog weights.   Demand, for the most part, for U.S. pork on the global market has been strong, but this week’s Export Sales report was less than stellar as pork sales last week were a marketing-year low.  Domestic demand has been inconsistent and that also adds uncertainty to prices. Barrows and gilts at the National Daily Direct closed $2.31 higher with a base range of $77 to $87 and a weighted average of $85.03; the Iowa/Minnesota closed $2.51 higher with a weighted average of $85.04; the Western Corn Belt closed $1.87 higher with a weighted average of $84.90.  Prices at the Eastern Corn Belt were not reported due to confidentiality. 

Butcher hog prices at the Midwest cash markets are steady in Dorchester, Wisconsin and Garnavillo, Iowa were steady at $63 and Red Oak, Iowa were lower at $53.  At Illinois, slaughter sow prices were steady with moderate demand for light offerings at $51 to $61.  Barrows and gilts were $1 higher with moderate demand for moderate offerings at $46 to $56.  Boars ranged from $20 to $30. 

Pork values closed sharply lower – down $4.19 at $97.96.  Bellies were sharply lower, dropping more than $17.  Hams, ribs and picnics were also lower.  Butts and loins were higher. Estimated hog slaughter was 481,000 head – down 5,000 on the week and up about 13,000 on the year.