Author: ploewen

With product and cash back on the heavy defensive, it’s been good to see live and feeder cattle futures continue the bounce higher after falling hard during the last half of August. Live cattle finished yesterday’s session up more than $1 on all but one contract month. Feeders were up triple digits in everything, including the October contract that settled more than $2 higher. Then, there was the hog market… Germany confirming ASF in hogs last week and South Korea immediately banned all German imports. China was a little slower to respond, but they banned them as well. Germany is the largest pork producer in the EU, so the potential from this is the US picking up even more of the world export trade and…

Date: September 14th, 2020 The holiday shortened trading week ending pretty well for the Ag sector, all but wheat finishing higher. Cattle futures flipped from steady to lower up to higher as the day progressed last Friday. Lean hog futures did not take full advantage of their expanding daily limits but still gapped higher again on Friday and finished $2 to $3 higher. The African swine fever discovery in Germany led to an immediate import ban in South Korea and most likely a ban into China. Cash feedlot trade continues to grind lower with live sales reported last week from $100 to $101 and dressed trade from $160 to $162, $1 to $3 lower than the week previous. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY –…

Date: September 9th, 2020 Livestock futures held gains yesterday to start the holiday shortened week even with another selloff in the equites and firm corn prices. Last week’s bearish cash trade as yet to spill over into this week, although I would expect to see steady to lower trade again this week. Last week’s negotiated sales only totaled 80,959 head, the lowest volume traded since early May. Showlists appear to be bigger in KS while lower in TX and NE. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with 892 head consigned compared to last week’s 436 head of which 365 sold at $103 live. Lean hogs started the day lower, but another sharply higher midday report for pork led to…

Date: September 8th, 2020 Livestock futures finished last week on a higher note, cattle lower though week over week as hogs continue to rally. Cash feedlot trade losing some ground with live sales reported last week from $102 to $104 and dressed trade from $162 to $165, both of which $2 to $4 lower than the week previous. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 09/04/2020 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week: 160,800 27,900 5,200 193,900 Last Week: 156,200 38,700 280,300 475,200 Year Ago: 106,800 58,100 14,700 179,600 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold 1.00 to 5.00 lower. Around the Labor Day holiday, many auctions proceed to have customer appreciation sales. Many ranchers set their marketing plan around selling cattle…

Date: September 4th, 2020 Yesterday was a mixed day for the Ag commodities. Cattle futures continue to slide lower as lean hog futures gapped higher. Beef export sales were in line expectations while pork sales were bullish. Beef prices continue to slide lower as pork values shot higher yesterday. Cash feedlot trade continues this week to creep lower with reports out of TX down to $102 live and dressed trade in the North down to $162. Feeders continue to take the biggest hit since peaking in early August. Technically its looking bearish now and the fundamentals are not as support either. Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission Co. - Salina, KS Livestock Weighted Average Report for 9/3/2020 Total Receipts: 1,615 Last Week: 2,573 Last Year: 1,887…

Date: September 2nd, 2020 It was a mostly higher day across the Ag commodities yesterday. Cattle futures were mixed as lean hogs moved higher. Cash feedlot trade as begun already this week at lower money again. Trade has been reported in the South at $103 to $104 live which is a $1 lower than last week while trade in the North is $2 to $4 lower at $103 live and $163 to $164 on a dressed basis. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/31/2020 Total Receipts: 5,751 Last Week: 5,446 Last Year: 0 Compared to last week, steer calves and yearlings steady, except yearlings over 800 lbs weak to 2.00 lower, heifer calves steady to 3.00 higher. Demand…

After Friday’s solidly bearish COF release, there were a lot of wishes and hopes that we’d see a fade the report-type trade yesterday and go up, not down, like the bearish data suggested. The numbers proved to be a little too heavy on the bearish side to avoid a selloff though and the result was some significant losses in most feeder cattle contracts and losses on the live side ranging from mild on the front end to heavy in the deeper deferreds. A record large inventory at the bunkline for August 1, placements up 11% from a year ago and marketings 1% under a year ago rounded out the trifecta of negative numbers. The result was a gap lower open in most contract months for…

Date: August 19th, 2020 Mixed day for all the Ag commodities yesterday. Live cattle futures traded both sides of unchanged finishing steady to slightly lower. Cash feedlot trade though $2 to $4 higher than last week on some light trade in TX, KS and NE yesterday from $106 to $108 live and $170 dressed. Beef prices continue to climb higher helped support packers to stay at or near capacity. Feeders held onto gains with September through January triple digits higher. There are some big sales coming this week from Superior and Western Video along with next week’s Northern Livestock Auction. Lean hogs were hit the hardest yesterday with triple digit losses. That nearby level from $54 and higher has been tested over this past week,…

Date: August 17th, 2020 Cattle futures finished the week mixed but higher week over week. Cash feedlot trade continues to rally adding another $3 to $5 last week compared to the week previous. Trade in the South reported at $103 to $105 live with the majority at $104 while dressed trade in North was reported at $165 to $170. The midweek USDA supply and demand report was bearish again for the meats. Cattle slaughter is still running near capacity but lagging a year ago, weights are starting to come down and I am hearing some lots are current. These all are friendly to the cattle market fundamentally as technically the charts continue to hold higher trends with new highs nearly weekly. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER…

Date: August 12th, 2020 Cattle futures traded mixed yesterday but finished strong across the board as lean hogs were fairly steady in the nearby August contract but triple digits lower on the deferreds. Cash feedlot trade steady with the upper end of last week’s trade on light volume so far this week at $103 in KS and $105 in IA. The concern for cattle still remains the higher weights and lower slaughter rates if they continue, beef prices remaining high or honesty seeing some strength. Charts look very good though with long term higher trends for both fats and feeders as deferred feeders continue to make new contract highs. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/10/2020 Total Receipts:…