Monthly Archives: August 2024

Date: August 26, 2024 Livestock futures all higher on Tuesday except the soon to expire August feeders with the cash index still a couple dollars discount to futures. No cash feedlot trade yet this week and still no bids or offers but with higher futures hopefully we can hold steady or even trade a couple dollars higher this week. Last week’s full recap of cash trade totaled 54,695 head ranging from $181 to $191 live, weighted average at $185.36, and $285 to $307 dressed, weighted average at $294.03. Lean hogs into new recent highs again on Tuesday supported by higher pork prices. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/26/2024 - Final Total Receipts: 5,908 Last Week: 4,174…

Date: August 26, 2024 August live cattle holding steady as we near expiration but October down into new 4-month lows and deferred contracts into new contract lows last week. August feeders also steady for the week but into new lows for the year midweek as September forward contracts all made new contract lows. Lean hogs on the other hand rallied last week and hit new recent highs. Cash fed cattle trade in Texas and Kansas done mostly at $183 with some at $184 which is $1-$2 lower than the week previous with trade in Nebraska $5 lower ranging from $184 to $190 live and dressed trade from $293 to $295. USDA cattle on feed report after the close on Friday was neutral to bearish with…

Matt Hines joined Aaron Harries and Justin Gilpin from Kansas Wheat recently on their podcast "Wheat's On Your Mind" https://kswheat.com/podcast

Date: August 21, 2024 Cattle futures crashed triple digits lower on Tuesday led by the ongoing economic worries yet outside markets didn’t actually settle significantly lower. This was enough to spur an early round of lower cash feedlot trade. Cash fed cattle trade reported on Tuesday on light volume at steady to mostly weaker than a week ago from $183 to $188 live and $293 to $295 on a dressed basis. Last week’s trade weighted average at $188.94 live and $298.21 dressed. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/19/2024 - Final Total Receipts: 4,174 Last Week: 5,428 Last Year: 5,259 Compared to last week: Feeder cattle again lightly tested. Feeder steers mostly steady to 2.00 lower, most…

Cattle futures brought two sided trade yesterday as most contracts started the week off by opening lower following another hefty leg downward on Friday. It didn’t take long for both fats and feeders to push to the positive side shortly into the morning but then feeders started to turn back lower and that’s the direction they continued, although they recovered quite a bit by the time the closing bell rang in the afternoon. Live cattle were able to fight the pressure as most contract months remained in the green. August fats continue to trade premium to the rest of the contracts which is somewhat counter seasonal, but negotiated cash trade last week was premium to futures at $185 in TX and KS. With cash being…

Back on Monday we got the monthly crop production report out from USDA and they also release S&D’s for the meats every month, along with that grain data. The production projections for beef continue to look really bullish. Back in 2022, beef production set an all-time record of over 28 bln lbs, it dropped off hard in 2023 to just over 27 bln, this year’s projection is 26.8 bln lbs and in 2025 the latest prognostication is for 25.5 bln lbs. Sharply declining production is great for bullish banter by analysts, but there’s a lot bigger picture to digest then just the production total. Beef exports have dropped considerably from a year ago with next year looking even worse. Imports have increased significantly also and…

Date: August 14, 2024 Livestock futures were mixed on Tuesday with cattle futures higher, led by $2+ gains for feeders, while lean hogs traded lower. Cattle are testing nearby resistance now, but unable to break through yesterday. Higher futures have certainly led to higher cash. Early week salebarn reports posting higher prices than a week ago and cash fed cattle trade has yet to develop but asking prices in the South were firm at $187 to $188 live. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/12/2024 - Final Total Receipts: 5,428 Last Week: 3,864 Last Year: 8,114 Compared to last week: Feeder steers 2.00-6.00 higher. Steer calves 10.00 higher in a light test. Feeder heifers steady to 4.00…

The winning streak of five consecutive higher closes in KC wheat came to an end yesterday and wheat finished lower along with corn and soybeans. It cooled off finally and there’s moisture in the forecast for a good part of the Corn Belt, so weather premium is coming out. There’s also a lot of disappointment in soybeans where three days ago there was a lot of talk about China actively buying US beans, but the 8am USDA daily export announcements were silent in the two days following that chatter and we got nothing on that front today either. Big up in futures on the rumor, then solid lower so far since nothing materialized. Weekly EIA ethanol data showed production down 4% from the previous week,…

Parts of the market got a little reprieve from recent beatings yesterday and part of it didn’t. Dec corn got hit with a double whammy of new recent lows and big time support being violated, along with dropping below the “3” handle. That’s the first time since 2020 that a Dec futures contract traded below $4 in the expiring year. To date, front end corn and MGEX wheat were the only two in the grains that hadn’t hit a new low water mark and in the past two days it finally happened unfortunately. It’s hard to fight funds jumping back on the sell side after only a brief reprieve after covering some of the record short positions in beans and corn, but they’ve been back…