Author: ploewen

Date: December 20th, 2022 Livestock futures opened higher yesterday with grains under pressure but soon fell victim to the overall commodity selloff to begin the week. Live cattle held the best with small gains, lean hogs were mixed and feeders hit with triple digit losses. I am a little surprised that feeders didn’t hold up better. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY - WEEK ENDING 12/17/2022 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold steady to 3.00 higher in the South Central and Southeast, while the North Central region sold 1.00 to 3.00 lower. Demand was moderate to good. Quality is a bit harder to find currently and mostly just a timing issue as much of this years' marketing is complete with many producers holding…

Date: December 19th, 2022 Morning Ag Markets – Matt Hines Almost all livestock futures finishing higher last Friday from supportive fundamentals during the week. Live cattle supported by sharply higher beef prices and steady to higher cash fed cattle trade. Live trade in the Southern Plains steady with the week previous at $155 while trade in the North steady to $3 higher from $155 to $158 live and $247 to $248 dressed. Feeders higher on Friday but still finished slightly lower week over week with corn choppy but holding higher prices last week. Lean hogs sharply higher on Friday securing week over week gains with a technical bounce off nearby support levels and higher pork and cash to end the week. For the week, Friday…

Date: December 14th, 2022 All commodities trading higher and most able to settle higher yesterday. Equities also higher and the US$ lower as November inflation numbers came in better than expected. Several live cattle contracts were able to make new contract highs. Cash fed cattle trade from last week still premium to December live cattle futures with little to no trade yet this week. Beef prices sharply higher on Monday and pulling back some Tuesday, but overall should also be supportive for steady to higher cash fed cattle trade again this week. Pork prices sharply higher yesterday as well helping prevent futures from making yet another new recent lows. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 12/12/2022 -…

Date: December 12th, 2022 Cattle futures higher last Friday and mixed for the week as hogs were lower. Cash fed cattle trade steady to $2 lower than the week previous in TX at $153 to $155 and steady to $1 higher in KS from $155 to $156 live. Trade in the North $1 to $2 lower at $156 live and $247 dressed. USDA made a few changes on the meats balance sheets on Friday. Beef production for 2022 increased by 70 million pounds and exports for both this year and next increased by 20 million pounds. Pork production for 2022 decreased by another 60 million pounds and exports reduced by 75 million pounds. For the week, Friday December 2nd through Friday December 9th, December Live…

Nice day of upward movement in the grains yesterday, but it was a lot different story in the meats. In the cattle complex, the live market was quietly mixed at the close and after a nasty drop on Tuesday that took futures way under last week’s cash, it had everyone scratching their head wondering whether futures were going to stop, or whether it was going to break cash really hard. As of the futures close yesterday, cash hadn’t actively traded anywhere and packer bids in the north were within $2 of last week on the bottom side. By the end of the day, some $247 dressed business had taken place up north, which is $2 under last week and Texas had moved a few at…

Date: December 7th, 2022 Mostly a negative day for all commodities yesterday with outside pressure and little new news to feed the bull. Cattle futures did begin the day in positive territory but those gains were quicky wiped out with both fats and feeders finishing triple digits lower. Corn was higher early in the session which got the ball rolling lower for cattle but overall I feel the pressure on the equities and sharply lower beef prices were the ultimate culprit. It is not a shock to see beef prices fading into the end of the year, but Monday’s Choice close was sharply lower followed up additional loss yesterday for yet another new low for the year. Only light volume cash fed cattle trade so…

Date: December 6th, 2022 Mixed livestock futures to start the week as steady to higher cash fed cattle trade last week was not as supportive as I would have liked to seen. It also didn’t help with outside markets providing pressure. Feeders held triple digits higher with grains off. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 12/5/2022 - Prelim This Week: 14,000 Last Week: 6,254 Last Year: 17.068 Feeder steers and heifers unevenly steady. Demand moderate to good. Steer calves 4.00 - 7.00 higher, with instances 12.00 higher. Heifer calves over 450lbs. unevenly steady, under 450lbs 15.00 - 20.00 higher. Demand good for most calves. Tulsa Livestock Auction - Tulsa, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 12/5/2022 -…

Date: November 30th, 2022 Mixed livestock futures on Tuesday with some recovery for feeders as corn spent most of the day in the red. Only light volume cash fed cattle trade so far this week at $153.50 live with most in TX and KS starting with asking prices from $156 to $157, another couple dollars higher than last week’s trade. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted Average Report for 11/28/2022 - Final This Week: 6,254 Last Week: 8,769 Last Year: 10,817 Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers 1.00 - 3.00 higher with instances 6.00 - 10.00 higher. Steer calves 3.00 - 7.00 higher. Heifer calves steady to 3.00 lower. Quality average to attractive. 7 weight index steers averaged…

Date: November 28th, 2022 Livestock futures were lower on Friday and most contracts lower week over week. Nearby December live cattle were able to catapult higher on Wednesday for a new contract high but no follow through buying after the day off on Thursday as grains were higher and equities lower to end the week. Weekly export sales didn’t help the cattle futures much either with a moderate amount of beef sales at 16,900 MT and exports of 17,300 MT. Pork sales were bullish with a massive weekly sales amount of 50,200 MT and exports at 33,200 MT. Cash fed cattle trade another $2 to $3 higher with live trade in South from $154 to $155 and in the North, live trade from $157 to…

Date: November 21st, 2022 Cattle futures finished higher on Friday to secure week over week gains. Lean hogs though pulled back on Friday and finished mixed for the week. Cash fed cattle trade adding another $1 to $2 compared to the week previous. Trade in KS and TX reported at $151 to $152 live while northern trade still holding a premium at $153 to $155 live and $242 dressed. A friendly Cattle on Feed report after the close could give cattle futures a boost to start this week. Cattle and calves on feed totaled 11.7 million head on November 1, 2022, 98% vs. a year ago and right line with expectations. Marketings of fed cattle during October totaled 1.80 million head, 1% above 2021 and…