Author: ploewen

Date: March 6th, 2023 Livestock futures finished higher last Friday which allowed for live cattle to settle near steady for the week and feeders higher week over week. Cash fed cattle trade added another $1 to $5 compared to the week previous with live trade in the South at $165 and trade in North from $165 to $167 live and $262 to mostly $265 on a dressed basis. Negotiated cash has been higher when compared to the year previous every week so far this year and all of 2022 while less than half of the time beef prices have been higher. The leverage continues to shift from packers to cattle feeders and should continue until slaughter ready supplies are back in a surplus so long…

Date: March 1st, 2023 Livestock futures all trading higher yesterday except deferred lean hogs. Overall, feeders scored the best gains as corn closed lower for the 5th consecutive day. April forward feeder contracts all scored new contract highs. Cash fed cattle trade still holding off for now, I wouldn’t expect to see much volume until Thursday or Friday again this week. IA early week trade reported at $165 live, $1 higher than last week and offers in the South starting at $166, $2 higher than the majority of last week’s trade. Kingsville Livestock Auction - Kingsville, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 2/28/2023 - Final This Week: 2,177 Last Week: 2,624 Last Year: 2,306 Compared to last week, feeder steers under 650 lbs sold on…

Date: February 28th, 2023 Livestock futures mixed to begin the week and feeders the only ones able to hold gains into the close with corn lower. It took longer than expected, especially following a bullish cattle on feed report last Friday, but feeders slowly crept higher yesterday. Live cattle lost ground into the close although fundamentals remain supportive with strong beef demand and tight slaughter ready supplies. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY - WEEK ENDING 02/25/2023 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week: 188,200 61,700 6,000 255,900 Last Week: 198,900 43,000 43,400 285,300 Year Ago: 170,600 34,100 48,800 253,500 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold steady to 4.00 higher. The supply of feeders was moderate and demand remains good to very good.…

Date: February 22nd, 2023 Livestock futures all higher yesterday supported by higher cash and robust demand. Pork exports have been very strong so far this year and boxed beef sharply higher the past couple weeks. Feeders only able to make small gains as higher corn futures on Tuesday kept the lid on any rallies. No cash fed cattle trade yet to report this week but asking prices in the South have already been coming forward at $164 live, another $2 higher than the bulk of last week’s trade. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 76,616 head. Of that 77% (59,190 head) were committed for the nearby delivery, while the remaining 23% (17,426 head) were committed for the deferred delivery. Kingsville Livestock Auction - Kingsville,…

Date: February 21st, 2023 Livestock futures were mixed last Friday and steady to higher for the week. Weekly exports were routine again for beef while remaining very strong for pork. Cash fed cattle trade added another $1 to $2 compared to the week previous. The largest volume again holding off until late Friday at $162 live in KS and TX and trade in the North ranged from $160 to $162 live and mostly $257 dressed. Beef prices last week also sharply higher which should continue to encourage higher prices to be paid by packers without them giving up the additional positive margins. Boxed beef prices over $11 higher last week and packers only giving up 20-25% of that gain. For the week, Friday February 10th…

Date: February 1st, 2023 All livestock futures began this week sharply higher, expect for the nearby Feb Lean hog contract which expires today. Higher cash fed cattle last week with good volume helped support the mostly triple digit gains on Monday. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 108,421 head. Of that 75% (81,474 head) were committed for nearby delivery while the remaining 25% (26,947 head) were committed for deferred delivery. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY - WEEK ENDING 02/11/2023 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week: 256,500 52,000 5,100 313,600 Last Week: 147,900 31,100 49,400 228,400 Year Ago: 222,300 84,600 34,400 341,300 Compared to last week, steers and heifers in the Southeast sold 5.00 to 9.00 higher while the other areas were steady…

Date: February 1st, 2023 Ag futures mixed yesterday on somewhat quiet trading for the last day of January. Live cattle were triple digits higher on Monday and feeders scored followed with big gains on Tuesday. No new news at the close yesterday as the Southern Plains begin to get back to more normal temps for the balance of this week and the expectations for the Cattle Inventory report were still friendly, yet not released until after the close. Corn spent most of the day steady to lower which also helped support the bump for feeders. USDA Cattle Inventory - January 1st all cattle and calves totaled 89.3 million head, down 3% from a year ago. Beef cows totaled 28.92 million head, down 3.6% from last…

Date: January 31st, 2023 Cattle futures especially live cattle, supported yesterday by bitter cold temps throughout the Plains and expectations for a friendly Cattle Inventory report later today. Expectations for this afternoon’s report are looking for a total of 3-4% less than a year ago. Feeders held small gains as lean hogs were mixed. Cattle slaughter volume was higher last week and packer inventories should be fairly tight this week and moving forward. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY - WEEK ENDING 01/28/2023 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week: 202,400 42,200 9,200 253,800 Last Week: 267,000 25,700 147,200 439,900 Year Ago: 251,300 16,700 31,000 299,000 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold steady to 3.00 higher. Demand was moderate to good on a…

Pretty depressing day of trade in the cattle yesterday. At the close, the feeders had several contract months down in the triple digits and April live cattle were down over $1 as well. The rest of the live cattle months were just mild to moderately weaker. Weekly export sales were bullish for both beef and pork with 44,700 mt’s of sales in pork and 25,100 in beef. Hogs finished up, cattle obviously didn’t, so I don’t think there was any bearing on the market from that data. In the negotiated cash feedlot trade, with packers losing a lot of leverage in recent months, unfortunately that now morphed into a lot fewer days of actual price discovery and trading in cash each week. Cattle feeders digging…

Date: January 25th, 2023 Cattle futures were quietly mixed on Tuesday, honestly all markets were lacking interest. Outside markets traded both sides of unchanged throughout the day. Cash fed cattle trade still holding off until later in the week with smaller showlists and sharply higher asking prices. There continues to be some optimism for higher cash trade this week which is supporting futures while some pressure may come from beef prices sliding lower. It is still a game of leverage as packers try to hold strong margins and producers try to gain some. Live cattle certainly look better than feeders and lean hogs as they continue to hold a higher trend vs. the other two trying to climb out of new recent lows hit last…