Monthly Archives: October 2018

Date: October 31st, 2018 Cattle futures continued under pressure yesterday although cash feedlot trade jumped higher last week and beef prices continue to rally. Live cattle futures have been trading sideways here for some time and the December contract is still positioned a few dollars above the cash market. Feeders though have been on a lower trend this entire month. Over 1,400 head of fat cattle confirmed so far this week at mostly $114 live in the North. Hogs remain supported with another 3 new African swine fever cases confirmed on small farms in China. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 10/29/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago 11,636 7,033 8,743 Compared to last week: Feeder steers uneven with those…

The start of the week for the cattle complex ended with a mixed close and prices in both the live and feeder markets showing just a little less green on the screen than red. Given the fact the negotiated cash feedlot trade from Friday jumped $4 from the previous week, trading up to $115 live, I honestly thought we’d see a more bullish reaction than mixed. Front end October fats that expire tomorrow on the last day of the month did close higher, but were still 57 cents under that $115 trade, making a positive basis. December, which is the next month out, plunged to triple digit losses though and I think that was way too aggressive even with the $2.97 premium it held over…

Date: October 29th, 2018 All livestock futures finished higher last Friday jolted by higher cash feedlot trade. KS traded at $111 live for 6 weeks straight, but finally popped to $114 to $115 this week. A year ago, this same week we jumped from $111 to $117 to $119. TX jumped $4 higher to mostly $115 live as well with trade in the North at $114 to $115 live and $6 higher at $180 dressed. USDA reported YTD Cattle Slaughter through September is 2.6% above last year and 8.6% above the previous 3-year average. YTD steer and heifer slaughter is 1.2% below and 7.6% above last year respectively. Also, YTD Beef cow slaughter is 10.7% above a year ago and 22.8% above the previous 3-year-average.…

Date: October 22nd, 2018 Cash feedlot trade in the Southern Plains sold steady again at $111 live. This is the 6th consecutive week of steady money which actually can be construed as bearish due to the fact that normal seasonality pushes cash trade higher this time of year. Dressed sales in Nebraska sold steady as well, mostly $174, with live trade steady to $2 higher from $109 to $111. Fed Cattle Exchange online auction trade from earlier in the week had over 1,100 head consigned and zero sales. August 22 was the last time any cattle changed hands on the FCE. Cattle on Feed as of October 1st was slightly below the average estimate at 105% vs. a year ago but still the largest inventory…

Date: October 17th, 2018 Cattle futures were under pressure for most of the day yesterday while hogs continued to rally although we did ease the losses into the close and a couple deferred live cattle contracts were able to close in the green. Volume and interest both very light for live and feeder cattle futures yesterday. A few hundred head of fat cattle traded at $175 dressed in Iowa early this week with over 2,100 head moving in Nebraska yesterday at $170 to $174. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be later this morning with 1,103 head consigned compared to 1,246 head last week but it has been almost 2 months since any have sold on that platform. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City,…

It was a sluggish start to the week for the cattle complex, particularly in the feeders. Red on the screen slowly but surely changed to green as the day progressed though and by the close some of the live cattle contracts were up well over $1, feeders were mildly higher across the board and hogs were up over $1 on some, just like the fats. Grain and oilseed trade enjoyed solid green across the screen as well, so essentially it was a solid day up for the entire ag sector. Oddly enough, while the ags were up, the DOW was lower. Granted, not sharply lower, but lower nonetheless. Last week when some of the hard hits came in stocks, the ag sector was taking it…

Date: October 15th, 2018 Compared to last week, live sales in the Southern Plains sold steady again at $111. Dressed sales in Nebraska sold at mostly $174, $1 lower than last week. This is the fifth consecutive week that live sales in the Southern Plains sold at mostly $111 although the range this past week was a little lower from $108 to $111.50 and $171 to $176 dressed. Fed Cattle Exchange online auction trade from earlier in the week had over 1,200 head consigned and zero sales. August 22 was the last time any cattle changed hands on the FCE. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 10/12/2018 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week 195,000 32,500 6,100 233,600 Last Week 249,600 47,600…

Date: October 10th, 2018 Mostly lower for livestock futures yesterday but we did ease some from solid triple digits. The pressure seen yesterday may cause some uncertainty for the balance of this week with both the cattle and hog markets looking for direction. Only a few hundred head of cash fed cattle confirmed so far this week at $110.50 live and $174 dressed in Iowa yesterday. Maybe we shall see some more movement with the Fed Cattle Exchange later today as 1,246 head are consigned compared to just a few hundred head these past weeks and no sales. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 10/8/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago 5,416 9,614 5,197 Compared to last week: Feeder steers…

Meat complex trade closed the session quietly higher across most contract months yesterday. In the case of the live and feeder cattle markets though, the range of trade from high to low was moderately active. Front month October live cattle that’s now past the first notice day for deliveries, finished $3.17 above last week’s Southern Plains negotiated cash trade and $2.17 above the top in Nebraska. Basis flipped to negative the 2nd week after the August live contract went off the board and it’s been stuck there since. The actual cash averages from last week on steers was $110.99 in Kansas, $111 in Texas and $111.17 in Nebraska. Joplin’s sale yesterday had a run that was just under 600 head shy of the same week…

Date: October 8th, 2018 Cash feedlot trade last week was mostly steady to $1 higher at $110 to $112 live and $174 to $176 on a dressed basis. African swine fever continues to spread across Asia and Europe with China confirming now over 30 individual cases and over 50K head culled. Globally, more than 361,000 infected wild boars and domestic pigs have been reported to the World Organization for Animal Health, with more than 119,000 deaths in 2018. Once the virus has been detected on a pig farm, the entire population must be culled. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – W/E 10/05/2018 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week 249,600 47,600 39,200 336,400 Last Week 185,400 47,000 1,900 234,300 Last Year 211,800 41,400 23,300…