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Lean hog futures sharply lower, cash hogs higher Monday
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live and feeder cattle futures fell sharply Monday on the resumption of cattle imports from Mexico and overbought signals. Feeders picked up additional pressure from the rally in corn. April live was down $2.15 at $200.15 and June was $2.22 lower at $194.47. April feeders were $5.30 lower at $269.82 and May was down $5.15 at $267.97.
Cash cattle country has been quiet Monday afternoon with no bids on the table. Asking prices have yet to be established, and significant trade volume will likely be delayed until the second half of the week. The bulk of last week’s trade took place mainly on Thursday in the South with live deals marked at mostly $208 – $6 to $7 higher from the previous week. Northern dressed deals took place Thursday and Friday and had a range of $325 to $332 – steady with the previous week.
At the Oklahoma National Stockyards, there weren’t enough comparable cattle to establish a trend at Monday’s sale. Total receipts were down on both week and year-ago levels. USDA says demand was moderate. Feeder supply included 41% steers and 77% of the offering was over 600 pounds. Medium and Large 1 feeder steers 705 to 746 pounds brought $268 to $294. Medium and Large 1 feeder heifers 652 to 694 pounds sold for $258 to $284.
Boxed beef closed sharply higher with Choice up $4.31 at $331.99 and Select up $2.77 at $319.84. The Choice/Select spread was $12.15.
Estimated cattle slaughter was 115,000 head – up a thousand on the week and down more than 8,000 on the year.
Lean hog futures were sharply lower, including a limit loss in April, due to technical weakness and pork demand questions. April was down $4.00 at $86.35 and May was $3.80 lower at $90.72.
Cash hogs were higher with light closing negotiated numbers at the major direct markets. It was a fairly quiet start to the week, with buyers seemingly not in a rush to issue bids, instead getting a look at their near-term needs and monitoring demand. Pork was firm at midday but closed lower, reflecting the ongoing inconsistency in domestic wholesale market. While global demand for U.S. pork is generally solid, there are concerns about the impact of tariffs on export business.
Butcher hogs were higher at the Dorchester, Wisconsin and Garnavillo, Iowa markets. Barrows and gilts were $2 higher at $60; slaughter sows were $1 to $24 higher ranging from $51 to $80; boars ranged from $18 to $30.
Pork values closed lower – down $.94 at $93.81. Bellies, ribs, and loins were higher. Hams, picnics, and butts were lower.
Estimated hog slaughter was 491,000 head – up 8,000 on the week and up more than 2,000 on the year.
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