Yearly Archives: 2024

Cattle futures had two sided trade on Friday but nothing too exciting heading into the COF report that came out after the close. Live cattle didn’t have a very wide range of trade and feeders didn’t trade anything too extreme either. Both failed to move above Thursday’s new recent highs. Looking at the full week of futures trade though, things were impressive last week with live cattle making new recent highs each day Monday through Thursday. Feeder cattle weren’t as impressive on the charts, but they did climb and were able to take out some resistance from the highs in April and make new recent highs on both Wednesday and Thursday. Friday afternoon’s monthly cattle on feed report came in right in line with the…

A sharp push higher yesterday across the cattle complex opened the door to active spec buying and bullish chart technicals. May feeders finally took out the April high and the August and beyond months did the same and when that happened, what started as a decent rally turned into a great rally and all back months finished $2+ higher with the August contract more than $3 up. Live cattle gains were stout and all triple digits, but nothing in the $2 range and of course, live cattle charts have looked quite a bit better than feeders for a while anyway. No cash feedlot trade at least through the futures close yesterday, but afterwards MPR showed light numbers in Texas and Kansas at $187 picked up.…

Date: May 22, 2024 Livestock futures were mixed on Tuesday with cattle again hitting new recent highs while lean hogs continue to drift lower. Supporting the cattle market yesterday were lower corn futures, continued technical buying and stronger beef prices. Only light volume cash feedlot trade reported so far this week in the WCB, steady to $2 higher compared to last week, at $190 to $192 live and $298 to $300 on a dressed basis. Lean hogs have lost over half the gains for the year, but continued losses may be limited in the near term as market ready supplies tend to tighten seasonally and packer margins are still firmly in the black. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report…

Good morning! Cattle futures opened up in the green yesterday and maintained that for a few hours into the trading session, but corn had some strength out of the overnight and continued higher into the day which pressured the feeder cattle futures. Live cattle however, were resilient with just August and October finishing in the red. But, as cash feedlot trade made big advances last week, the June contract continues to try to play catch up even though it’s got quite a ways to go before reaching convergence. Both live and feeder cattle are looking trendy on the charts in the short-term as both continue to make higher highs and higher lows. In feeders, those contracts are approaching some resistance from the late April highs.…

Date: May 8, 2024 Livestock futures and grains flipped places on Tuesday with all cattle and lean hogs contracts higher while all grains and oilseeds lower except new crop corn and beans. Cattle markets are still hesitant, taking a wait and see approach not only for more cash fed cattle trade later this week but the continued headline watching in regards to Avian Flu. Only light volume cash fat cattle trade so far this week in IA at $184 to $185 live, steady to $2 lower than a week ago. A recap of last week’s cash fed cattle trade showed feedlots selling 92,693 head, 58,165 head for nearby delivery and 34,528 head for deferred delivery with a weighted average at $185.69 live and $294.90 dressed.…

Date: May 6, 2024 Livestock futures mixed on fairly quiet trading on Friday, especially compared to past few trading sessions with live cattle posting over $2 gains or losses and feeders $3 to $4. Early week losses though from Avian flu in more dairies to USDA announcing testing on ground beef, was met with positive news to end the week. No beef samples tested positive, weekly export sales shot up to 25,500 MT, a new marketing year high and cash feedlot trade was again higher. Cash fed cattle trade reported in the South at $2 higher than the week previous at mostly $184 live. Northern live trade $1 to $2 higher at $186 to $187 but dressed trade remained steady at $295. Weekly closes for…

Date: April 29, 2024 Livestock futures mixed again on Friday and for the week with cattle higher but lean hogs lower. Cash fed cattle trade reported steady in TX and KS compared to the week previous at $182 to $183 live. Northern trade at $2 to $3 higher, $185 live and $295 dressed, helped spur the late week rally. There were some additional disturbing stories last week about the Avian Flu in U.S. dairies but at least the live cattle and feeder markets were able to ignore the banter and hold solid 2 week higher trends. Bearish fundamental updates midweek from weekly export sales to cold storage along with lower cash values provided the pressure on lean hogs. Weekly closes for livestock futures and meats…April…

Date: April 26, 2024 Mixed day for livestock futures on Thursday with cattle triple digits higher and hogs triple digits lower. Not all, but most lean hog contracts gapped lower on the open from a bearish cold storage report and disappointing weekly export sales. Pork belly stocks surged higher last month and hams stocks only declined slightly. The 28,800 MT of net sales were down 32% from the week previous and down 25% from the 4 week average. It wasn’t that long ago that we averaged nearly twice that amount and exports were still friendly at 40K MT. Cattle futures did open lower but it wasn’t long before aggressive buying turned things around. Cash trade in the North helped spur the rally with $2 to…

Date: April 15, 2024 Livestock futures all in the red last Friday with nearby contracts steady to higher week over week but all deferred contracts finishing lower for the week. Lean hogs hit new highs midweek as cattle hit new recent lows again on Friday. Inflation continues to keep some pressure on the markets along with the spread of Bovine Influenza A in U.S dairies. Beef and pork prices continued higher for the week, but cash prices pulled back some. Cash feedlot trade dropping another $2 to $4 with TX and KS trade at $182 live and trade in NE and IA $184 to $185 live and $293 to $295 dressed. Weekly closes for livestock futures and meats…April Live Cattle +$.65, June -$.57, April Feeder…

Date: April 10, 2024 Cattle futures posted strong triple digit gains on Tuesday, most contracts higher for the second day in a row. New recent lows were hit last Friday after updates on more cases of Avian flu in U.S. dairies. No new news since which is good news, although the markets are still very cautious to add back the sharp losses over the past couple weeks. No cash feedlot trade yet this week but beef prices have firmed with Choice back above the $300 level. Lean hogs continue to make new highs supported by higher cash and pork values. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 4/8/2024 - Final Total Receipts: 6,619 Last Week: 5,431 Last Year: 8,248…