Market News

Cattle lower, waiting for rest of week’s direct trade

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle were down on the week’s steady to lower direct business, with feeders picking up additional pressure from the higher move in corn. April live was $.27 lower at $196.27 and June was down $.07 at $192.62. April feeders were down $1.65 at $274.42 and May was $1.22 lower at $273.85.

Direct cattle markets were generally quiet. Light trade was reported at mostly $196 to $197 live in the south, steady to $1 lower than last week, with a handful of dressed sales at $310 in the north. Trade overall this week has been relatively light, mostly at $195 to $197 live in Kansas and Texas, steady to $2 lower than last week, with some activity at $310 to $314 dressed in Iowa and Nebraska. Asking prices were $198 to $200 live and $315 dressed with bids of $195 live and $310 dressed. It looks like the rest of the week’s trade will wait until Friday. The USDA says beef export sales were 27% lower than last week at 13,400 tons. While there were no outright cancelations, all of the listed buyers made at least some reduction to their weekly purchase total. South Korea led the way, followed by Japan and China.

At the Apache Livestock Auction feeder cattle sale in Oklahoma, feeder steers were steady to $5 lower, with feeder heifers weighing 600 to 700 pounds $10 higher and feeder heifers weighing more than 700 pounds $5 to $10 lower. Steer calves were up $10, while heifer calves weighing less than 500 pounds were $15 to $20 higher and heifer calves weighing more than 500 pounds were $4 to $10 lower. The USDA says demand was good for a good to attractive quality offering, with receipts below last week and last year. 88% of the run were feeder cattle, 47% of those were heifers, and 58% of all feeder cattle weighed more than 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers weighing 550 to 650 pounds ranged from $314 to $345 and 700-to-800-pound steers brought $262 to $310. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers weighing 600 to 700 pounds were reported at $257.50 to $309.50 and 700-to-800-pound heifers sold at $242 to $256.

Boxed beef closed mixed with light to moderate movement. Choice was down $.42 at $313.12 and Select beef was up $.98 at $303.51 for a spread of $9.61. The estimated cattle slaughter of 122,000 head was up 4,000 on the week, but down 649 on the year.

Lean hog futures were mixed with nearby contracts up sharply on spread trade, the midday gain in pork, and the solid weekly export sales numbers. The temporary suspension in U.S. tariffs on Mexico was also a positive for the most active months. April was $1.95 higher at $86.65 and May was up $2.20 at $89.67.

Cash hogs were steady to higher with light to moderate negotiated numbers at the major direct markets. It looks like those buyers at the major direct markets still needed a few near-term numbers to finish out the week. Even with a pause on tariffs against Mexico, and now Canada, overall export demand is a question mark because of those trade issues, and domestic wholesale business continues to be volatile. The USDA says pork export sales of 42,400 tons were up 32% on the week, with Mexico picking up more than half of the weekly total.

National direct barrows and gilts were $.49 higher with a base price range of $82 to $93 for a weighted average of $90.77, while Iowa/Southern Minnesota was up $1.02 and the Western Corn Belt was $1.14 higher, with both averaging $91.31. The Eastern Corn Belt was not reported due to confidentiality with a five-day rolling average of $90.59. Butcher hogs in Dorchester, Wisconsin and Garnavillo, Iowa were steady at $60. Illinois direct sows were steady at $62 to $74 on moderate demand for moderate to heavy offerings. Barrows and gilts were steady at $51 to $61 with moderate demand and offerings. Boars ranged from $15 to $30.

Pork closed up $.01 at $96.49. Picnics, ribs, and hams were modestly to sharply higher, while loins, butts, and bellies were modestly to sharply lower. The estimated hog slaughter of 485,000 head was down 4,000 on the week, but up 13,245 on the year. Wednesday’s slaughter was revised to 366,000 head, a drop of 43,000 from the initial estimate.