Author: ploewen

Date: April 30, 2025 Cattle futures again higher on Tuesday and into yet again new all-time spot highs for both live cattle and feeders. Both holding higher trends since new long term lows were hit back in April 2020. Only light volume cash fed cattle trade so far this week in the WCB, sharply higher than a week ago though at $350 dressed. A full recap of last week’s trade showed feedlots only selling 66,661 head of negotiated cash fat cattle, 91% for nearby delivery, from $207 to $219 live, weighted average $215.68 and $335 to $345 dressed, weighted average $341.09 Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 4/28/2025 – Final Total Receipts: 4,921 Last Week: 1,582 Last…

Cattle futures finished stronger on the first trading day of this week. Live cattle opened up slightly higher while feeders gapped higher out of the gate yesterday. Not quite the way things finished though as feeder cattle spent some time trading both sides of unchanged. By the end of the session, live cattle solidified their gains in the $1+ for April-October, but the May contract was the only one of the feeders to gain more than a buck on the day. April through Oct gained over a buck and those four contract months are also all into new contract highs while December and beyond into the deeper deferreds have not made it up there yet. On the flip side, feeder cattle didn’t perform as well…

Date: April 28, 2025 All livestock futures finished last week higher and week over week gains from $2 to $4+. Cattle futures hit new highs on Friday but did begin last week under pressure as the Dow crashed 1000pts. This quickly reversed course on Tuesday and gains added for the balance of the week. The primary chatter was good progress being made on multiple trade deals and hope that there would be some de-escalation in the trade war with China. Cash feedlot trade was still fairly light volume as of Friday’s close, but higher prices reported vs. the week previous. TX and KS live trade ranged from $210 to $216, most $212 to $213, $2 to $3 higher, as trade in the North ranged from…

After two days of sharply higher push in the feeder cattle market, the run lost steam and prices settled back to a mildly lower close in all but the front month March. Live cattle had one month down more than $1 and the rest knocking at the door of triple digits lower. Still no negotiated cash as of the close yesterday, but with Feb futures parked right at last week’s cash level AND that contract expiring Friday, it’ll be interesting to see whether beef packers can continue pressuring prices like they have through most of February. Late afternoon reports showed a very limited number changing hands in Kansas at $197. Not enough to call it a trend, but that’s also $2 under last week’s prices.…

Big up day for the cattle complex yesterday. With cash feedlot trade in an upswing, the futures market had a lot of catching up to do given the big discount in futures relative to cash. Through yesterday’s market close, prices from Nebraska to Texas ranged from $191-$195. December live cattle started the week with an opening price of $187.40, but Tuesday and then yesterday’s sharply higher price action quickly erased the deficit. Live cattle finished yesterday’s session up more than $2 on the front two months and $1+ on the rest. Feeders were up just shy of $2 across the board. Interesting twist to the cash feedlot action where packers came into Monday bidding steady with last week’s $191 tops in Texas and Kansas, which…

Date: October 9, 2024 Livestock futures settled in the green on Tuesday with triple digit gains for feeders and fresh new recent highs for both feeders and fats. October feeders closing on the 50% retracement level at $252.25 when using the full range from the contract high at $275.17 back in January to the contract low at $229.35 from mid-August. October lean hogs expire on Monday. Looking at the December contract currently trading well above last winter’s seasonal low suggests we may not see quite the falloff later this year, but I would still expect a little downturn this fall. No cash feedlot trade yet this week with smaller showlists in TX but larger in KS and NE as packers entered the week with smaller…

Date: September 30, 2024 Livestock futures were mixed last Friday but again all higher week over week. New recent highs were hit for both fats and feeders on Friday. Support coming from higher cash feedlot trade again last week. Cash fed cattle trade in Texas and Kansas mostly at $185 live, $2 to $3 higher than the week previous. Trade in the North ranging from $185 to $187 live and $292 to $294 dressed, $2 to $4 higher than a week ago. Weekly closes for livestock futures and meats… October Live Cattle +$1.27, December +$1.27, September Feeder Cattle +$.57, October +$3.17, October Lean Hogs +$3.60, December +$2.07. Choice Boxed Beef -$3.50 at $296.69 and Pork Carcass Cutout +$1.60 at $95.75. Oklahoma Weekly Cattle Auction Summary…

Date: September 25, 2024 Livestock and grain futures all opened higher and held gains until midday. In the end, the front months for cattle and hog futures settled slightly lower with moderate gains for all deferred contracts. Only very light volume cash feedlot trade so far this week in the North at $184.50 live. A full recap of last week’s trade showed feedlots selling 86,956 head of negotiated cash fat cattle with nearly 90% for nearby delivery. Full range traded from $177 to $190 live, weighted average at $184.13 which is nearly $2 higher than the week previous and $286 to $303 dressed, weighted average $290.66 just $.36 higher than the week previous. Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report coming out Thursday with expectations for all…

Date: September 18, 2024 Livestock futures held triple digit gains on Tuesday as grains were steady to lower. Only light cash fed cattle trade so far this week in the North at $180 live with asking prices in the South starting at $184 to $185. A recap of last week’s trade showed feedlots selling 61,496 head of negotiated cash fat cattle, over 51,000 for nearby delivery. The full range of prices last week from $175 to $188.50 live, weighted average $182.32, $1 higher than the week previous and $285 to $300 dressed, weighted average $290.30, $4 higher than the week previous. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 9/16/2024 - Final Total Receipts: 6,742 Last Week: 10,154 Last…

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…