Market News

Showlists appear about steady with last week

Showlist collection is complete, and ready cattle numbers appear to be mixed, smaller in the South and larger in the north, especially Nebraska. Overall the offering seems about steady with last week. Given the greater spending by packers late on Friday higher asking prices are anticipated around 115.00 or better in the South and 178.00 to 180.00 in the North. The Monday cattle kill was estimated at 113,000 head, 1,000 more than last week and last year.

Boxed beef cutout values were higher with moderate demand and light to moderate offerings. Choice beef was up .76 at 195.39, select 183.05, up 1.96.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled .57 higher to .37 lower. Firm gains were seen in the February to August contracts, but the overall market was mixed. The back and forth shifts through the live cattle trade caused a lack of direction. Strong triple digit support seen on Friday helped develop additional technical support in nearby contracts, but the ability to draw active buyer interest back into the market may be limited by overall trade interest over the next couple of days. The cattle on feed report due out on Friday could cause increased volatility to the market.

Feeder cattle settled .02 to .97 higher. Firm gains entered the market despite the choppy back and forth shifts seen early in the session. Traders focused on the ability to spark additional cash cattle support through the end of the year and that helped bring some momentum back into the feeder complex. January futures moved above 130.00 per hundredweight for the first time since the end of August.

Feeder cattle receipts at the Joplin, Missouri Regional Stockyards on Monday totaled 4,000 head. Steer calves were steady, and heifer calves were firm to 3.00 higher, yearlings traded steady on Monday. The demand was moderate to good on a moderate supply. The temperature started near zero for the last feeder cattle sale at Joplin in 2016. Feeder steers medium and large 1 weighing 550 to 600 pounds traded from 141.00 to 143.00 per hundredweight. 550 to 600 pound heifers brought 123.00.

Lean hogs settled .60 lower to 1.40 higher. Light pressure held in the nearby futures following the overall lack of interest early on Monday. Traders continued to square positions following the strong market shift higher seen last week, as some traders continue to follow the lackluster cattle market. Trade volume is expected to remain sluggish through most of the week, although the underlying firmer tone seen over the last couple of weeks could draw traders back into the market through the end of the year.

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed .16 lower at 53.22 weighted average on a carcass basis, the west was also down .16 at 53.17, and the national market was .11 higher at 53.04. Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady from 45.00 to 47.00.

The pork carcass cutout value was up .74 at 78.59 FOB plant.

Just when it looked like the hog market had moved past peak seasonal supplies, it serves up another record kill. Last week’s slaughter totaled 2.544 million head, up 4.1 percent from the previous week, up 1.8 percent from the same week last year, and 1,000 head more than the old record set two weeks ago.

Monday’s hog slaughter was estimated at 442.000 head, 2,000 less than last week, but 5,000 more than last year.