Author: ploewen

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…

Date: June 29th, 2020 Cattle futures were mostly flat for the week while lean hogs continue to make new lows. Negotiated cash feedlot still falling with live trades reported from $93 to $98 and dressed $153 to $156, both $2 to $5 lower than the week previous. Weekly export sales were friendly for both beef and pork and remain the key to pushing through the backlog of slaughter ready cattle and hogs. The quarterly hogs and pigs report was also bearish with all hogs and pigs as of June 1st at 79.6 million head, up 5% from last year and up 3% from last quarter. Breeding inventory, at 6.33 million head, was down 1% from last year, and down 1% percent from the previous quarter.…

Date: June 24th, 2020 Livestock futures trading mostly higher yesterday. The China rumors swirling again that they will buy large quantities of U.S. Ag products helped push deferred cattle and hog futures higher. Light cash feedlot trade so far this week ranging from $3 to $7 lower than last week at $95 to $98 live in the South and $152 to $155 on a dressed basis in the North. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,221 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,220 head of which none sold and offers were listed at $101 to $102. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 6/22/2020 Total Receipts: 5,711 Last Week: 6,100 Last Year: 10,718…

Date: June 22nd, 2020 Negotiated cash feedlot trade mostly complete by midweek with steady to lower again. In the South, live trade ranged from $98 to $102 with dressed trade in the North from $158 to $160. Daily slaughter rates back up to pre-COVID levels for cattle while Saturday’s hog kill the past 3 weeks has pushed weekly totals ahead of pre-COVID and year ago. Weights are tremendously higher than a year ago though meaning there is extra product hitting a market still trying to rebuild consumer demand which will continue to pressure prices. USDA released its monthly cattle on feed report after the close which was slightly bearish as placements were higher than expected and marketing lower than expected. Cattle on feed as of…

Date: June 17th, 2020 Live cattle futures were firm with feeders finishing triple digits higher. Light cash feedlot trade so far this week ranging from $2 to $10 lower than last week at $100 live in TX, $98 to $100 in KS and $100 to $105 live and $159 to $167 dressed in NE. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,220 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,447 head of which 228 sold at $105 live for 1-17 day delivery. New contract lows for July lean hogs as cash prices dove below the $30 mark yesterday. Pork prices continue to be under pressure as processors are back up to capacity which is good to see but also leading to…

Somewhat of a disappointing start to the day yesterday for the cattle complex, but it turned into a decent finish for the futures market at least. Live cattle and feeders were quietly higher and hogs were up on everything except one contract month. Fundamentally, there was a mix of good and bad news to digest. On the positive side, the cattle kill yesterday was the largest one day total since March 31st, coming in at 119k head, moving packers yet another step closer to what I would consider full recovery in chain speed at kill plants. Pork packers have been slower to recover, although yesterday was also the largest hog slaughter tally since April 10th, coming in at 457k head. Given the current oversupply situation…

Date: June 15th, 2020 Negotiated cash feedlot spread out again this past week and under pressure as the week progressed moving from the top end at $108 live down to $102 by Friday. Those values are $1 to $10 lower than the week previous and dressed trade $3 to $15 lower at $162 to $165. Even though daily slaughter capacities are still behind a year ago or pre COVID, Saturday schedules have allowed weekly cattle slaughter to get with 10K head of year ago and hog slaughter the past two weeks has now exceeded a year ago levels. Beef prices continue to plummet as ample supplies are now hitting the market while pork prices were only slightly lower this past week. This is good for…

Date: June 10th, 2020 Livestock futures traded flat to mixed until midday as equites and crashing beef prices continue to cause most of the uncertainty and pressure on sustained rallies moving forward. Cash feedlot trade very minimal so far this week which is off from the past few weeks as packers have been very active daily. Only light trade so far and continuing lower in the North at $104 to $106 live and $166 on a dressed basis. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,447 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,736 head of which only 199 sold at $110.50 live for 1-17 day delivery. Cattle slaughter from Tuesday estimated at 117,000 head, up 1,000 from last week but…

Date: June 3rd, 2020 Livestock futures were under pressure as slaughter plants are still not quite back up to capacity and cash feedlot trade has begun for the week at steady to lower money. Southern Plains trade reported at $118 live while trade in NE reported at $118 live and from $178 to $187 on a dressed basis. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,736 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,164 head of which none sold. Beef and pork prices continue to be under pressure as well since peaking back in May. The past 2 trading sessions with lower moves is threatening the uptrend for both fats and feeders that has been in place since mid-April. Lean hog…