Author: ploewen

There was a lot of green across the screen in the major ag markets to start the week. Cattle and hogs were up, along with corn and soybeans, but the wheat market didn’t want any part of the action. In the hogs, that up move included $1-$2+ gains on the front three months. Live and feeder cattle traded on both sides of unchanged, but ended up closing on their highs for the day. Hog slaughter yesterday was the new daily record since covid started hammering kill plants back in March/April. 482k head was the tally yesterday and that’s the largest since April 7th. A comfortable plant capacity on a daily basis is upper 490’s. The last time a daily hog slaughter total was over 490k…

Date: August 10th, 2020 Cattle futures finished the week mixed to lower and lower for the week while hog futures were triple digits higher on Friday and mixed for the week. Cash feedlot trade last week at $3 higher than the week previous. Trade in the South done mostly at $100 live with trade in the North at $103 live and $163 to $168 on a dressed basis. Cattle slaughter has been slipping under a year ago values these past couple weeks while hog slaughter is exceeding a year ago totals. This is not the pattern the market wants to see with an abundance of slaughter ready cattle still out there. Both beef and pork values were higher for the week which should be more…

Date: July 27th, 2020 Livestock futures were mixed last week with cattle futures lower week over week while the nearby August lean hog futures contract continues to hold a higher trend. Cash feedlot trade was steady to higher compared to the week previous at mostly $95 to $96 live in the South and $98 to $100 live and $157 to $160 on a dressed basis in the North. US cattle total inventory up slightly from a year ago yet beef cattle slightly lower with dairy higher. As of July 1st, the US has a total of 103 million head of cattle and calves and of that total, 41.4 million cows and heifers have calved. July 1 Cattle on Feed was slightly below last year’s record…

Date: July 22nd, 2020 Fairly quiet day for livestock futures after the triple digit lower start on Monday. Commercial buying lead the charge for higher lean hog futures as pork prices continue to climb higher. Light volume and again steady cash feedlot trade started on Monday with packers eager to buy. Only a few hundred head traded in KS at $95 live and in NE at $98 live and $157 dressed. Yesterday, a few thousand moved in KS and TX at $96 live and in IA at $99 live. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,022 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,224 head of which 275 sold at $95.50 to $95.75 live all out of KS. Joplin Regional…

Date: July 15th, 2020 Equities pushed higher as the trading day progressed yesterday, US$ was weaker and energies were mostly steady. Livestock futures though were lower. Demand is the concern once again as the increase in positive cases of COVID continues to surge in many states. California just announced pulling back in essence to a Phase 1 of reopening by shutting down dine in restaurants and closing all bars along with other types of business. I think the livestock markets are looking at the extra meat production being produced from heavier weights as they try to keep slaughter levels near capacity vs. the domestic consumption potential or loss of. Exports remain the critical piece of the puzzle to keep our current pace up. Steady to…

Date: July 8th, 2020 Equities were weaker yesterday as cautious optimism continues with improving economic data but rising cases of COVID pushing some states to reverse course or pause on a full opening of business and travel. Livestock markets finished mixed to mostly lower as follow through buying did not appear yesterday for cattle futures and lean hog futures try not to make new lows. Steady to $5 higher light cash feedlot trade so far this week with Kansas and Texas at $94-$95 live and dressed trade in Nebraska and Iowa at $157-$160. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,458 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,814 head of which only 144 sold at $95 live. Joplin Regional Stockyards…

Coming off of three day holiday weekends often brings with it a lot of nervousness and volatility potential in trade. Add in the factor of the 4th hitting in the middle of summer and weather pattern changes and for the grain and oilseed markets in particular, Independence day has signaled some major changes in trend historically. Meats had a great day at higher money on Monday, pushing up to $2+ gains at times in live cattle. Both the live and feeder markets finished with quite a few contract months up in the triple digits higher. Hogs were mild to moderately higher at the close. Recent technical analysis trends in the cattle complex have turned the corner towards bullish, but that’s very counter to the fundamentals.…

Date: July 6th, 2020 Cattle futures were higher last week as hog futures continue lower. Cash feedlot trade for the short week reported at $93 to $95 live and $152 to $155 dressed which is $2 lower to $2 higher from the week previous depending on the region. Weekly export sales remain very strong for pork and solid for beef, yet not enough still to continue to move the extra product we continue to produce from the additional numbers and higher weights. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 07/02/2020 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week: 79,600 33,600 15,900 129,100 Last Week: 155,900 55,000 60,600 271,500 Year Ago: 24,700 27,200 39,200 91,100 Auction Receipts: 79,600 Last Week 155,900 Last Year 24,700 Compared…

Date: July 1st, 2020 Cattle futures pulled back from early gains as lean hog futures held mostly higher on deferred contracts. There was some light chatter about a new swine flu being identified in China. Overall pressure will continue to be present as we push huge amounts of both beef and pork on the market trying to clear the backlog of slaughter ready animals. Light cash feedlot trade so far this week at $92 to $95 live and $153 on a dressed basis, $2 to $3 lower than last week. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,814 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,221 head of which 276 sold at $95 to 97 live for 1-17 day delivery. Joplin…

The vast majority of the ag sector ended yesterday’s session with strong closes to the plus side. Meats were able to fight off early pressure to push higher late. Grain and oilseed trade was very similar. Beef packers passed another milestone yesterday when they hit 121k head on the daily slaughter number. To date, both beef and pork packers have been making up for lost time by expanding Saturday kills and that helped both segments boost last week’s totals up to levels that surpassed year ago numbers. Seeing a 121 number in cattle yesterday gets us one step closer to working through the Covid-induced backlog. The added total production it generates is bearish, but the faster we get through those numbers, the quicker we get…