Monthly Archives: August 2018

Date: August 29th, 2018 Cattle futures gave back half their gains from Monday on yesterday disappointing follow through. Lean hog futures opened higher but sellers stepped in pressuring the markets for the rest of the day with the nearby October contract touching over $3 lower in the last few minutes of trade. There have been a couple thousand of cash fed cattle trade so far this week at $106 to $108.50 live and $168 to $170 dressed, $1 to $4 lower than last week. Fed Cattle Exchange online auction scheduled for later this morning with 751 head consigned compared to last week’s 359 head of which 280 head sold at $109.50. Cattle slaughter from Tuesday is estimated at 119,000 head matching last Tuesday and up…

08/23/2018 With two weeks of reporting left in the marketing year for corn and soybeans, the corn export sales tally this morning was a little depressing. There were only 6.8 mln bushels of old crop sales, along with 41.5 mln new crop. The USDA forecast for old crop exports is 2.4 bln and there’s still 21 mln to go to hit that target. The ugliest part is the 225 mln unshipped bushels that have been sold, but not yet loaded for export. It doesn’t count towards the export tally until it’s shipped, so when you subtract those unshipped bushels from the current sales pace, that leaves 245.6 mln bushels of corn that need to make export inspections in the next two weeks to hit the…

Date: August 22nd, 2018 Only a few hundred head of fat cattle confirmed so far this week in the North at $172 dressed, $2 to $3 lower than last week. Fed cattle exchange online auction later this morning with 359 head consigned compared to last week’s 488 head of which none sold. OKC West - El Reno, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/21/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago 1,500 5,968 5,223 *** Final report including feeder cattle will be released tomorrow 08/22/18 *** Compared to last Tuesday: Steer and heifer calves were lightly tested, however where comparable sales could be noted cattle sold with a higher undertone. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Auction Report for 8/20/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago…

8/21/2018 Compared to the normal trade in recent weeks, live cattle futures showed very little volatility and a dull trading session yesterday. The range from high to low in everything was less than $1. Feeders traded in a range just over $1. Hogs were still acting flighty and pushed into new recent highs early, only to turn over and flop hard to the downside closing solidly in the red in everything. Feeders finished mildly lower in most, but down over $1 on the front month August. Live cattle were mixed at the close with the front three lower and the next two months mildly higher. In the hog trade, the cart got way out in front of the horse with the recent surge to the…

Date: August 20th, 2018 Cash feedlot trade was steady to $1 lower than the week previous at $109 to $111 live and $174 to $175 on a dressed basis. Cattle futures bottomed out early last week and beef prices were higher for the week. Fed cattle supplies through August and September should remain plentiful and at this time there seems to be limited positive news to encourage cattle futures and interest in moving the fed cattle market higher. Lean hog futures have now been gaining for the past 7 days with the prices sharply higher to end the week. African swine fever continues to spread across eastern China although they claim the outbreak in the region is now under control. This is the third confirmed…

In the face of the grain and oilseed trade getting kicked in the teeth on Friday following the report, meat complex futures were really pretty boring by comparison. Live cattle closed mixed and flat, feeders were mildly higher on everything and the hogs were mixed and flat, just like the live cattle. One of the bigger surprises of the day was watching a live cattle market that was flat and a corn market down in the double digits and feeders not able to muster more of a pronounced rally. I thought it would be a gimme for feeders to hit triple digit gains with such a bearish reaction in corn. According to the National Feeder Summary, calves and yearlings sold steady to $5 better last…

Date: August 7th, 2018 Light to moderate pressure continued to build for livestock futures yesterday even with the higher cash trade last week and cash still premium to nearby live contracts. Packers did purchase the second largest volume of cattle of the year, 165,000 head, leaving smaller show lists this week. 3,000 head were confirmed yesterday at $112.50 live in Nebraska, down $1 to $2 from last week. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Auction Report for 8/6/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago 7,200 5,693 5,059 Compared to last week: Feeder steers 600-700 lbs. sold 5.00-8.00 higher, the balance brought 1.00-4.00 higher. Feeder heifers 1.00-3.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves 450-600 lbs. 2.00-5.00 higher. Lighter calves not well tested. Demand good to very…