Author: ploewen

HUGE day for the cattle coming off of a setback on Wednesday. Not that we had any massive gains in anything, but monumental from the standpoint of the numbers. Two different contract months in the Feeders pushed up above the $300 mark for the first time in history yesterday and they were the August and Sept contracts. August didn’t flinch much at that 300 handle either, because it settled north of $301. Feeders were up $2-$3 at the close and live cattle were all up over $1. Cash feedlot trade was feeling some love also with Nebraska dressed trade reportedly showing a few sales at $360 to a regional and mostly $355 to the major, along with $228 live. Crazy good times in cattle and…

Date: May 5, 2025 All livestock futures finished last week higher with triple digit gains for live cattle and feeders but mixed weekly results for lean hogs. April live cattle expired last week and hit a new all-time spot high at $217.67. May feeders hit a new all-time spot high on Friday at $295.62. Cash feedlot trade again posting much higher values this past week with trade in Southern Plains from $214 to mostly $218 live, $4 to $6 higher than the week previous. Trade in North $222 to $223 live, $7 to $8 higher and $340 to $352 on a dressed basis, $5 to $10 higher. Volume important this past week and for this week to see just how packers are sitting now. Weekly…

Cattle complex futures came out of the chute yesterday with a solid bullish start and $1-$2 gains in everything, but they faded fast and spent a lot of the day in red ink. Live cattle finished higher on the front four months and mildly lower on the rest. Feeders were up on the May contract and down on the rest with quite a few down more than $1. In the negotiated feedlot cash, trade has been strung out across multiple days and all of it at considerably higher money. Southern Plains tops have been around $218, which is up $5 from last week’s top. Nebraska dressed trade topped in the $350-$352 area, which is up around $8 from a week ago. Two things to note…

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…