Author: ploewen

Date: February 5th, 2020 Livestock futures were mixed yesterday, $1 ranges traded for live cattle futures and $2+ for feeders, now back to looking for direction after reversals higher on Monday for cattle. Chinese meat demand is still a major concern moving forward. Cash feedlot trade very light so far this week and only in the Western Corn Belt at $120 live, another $2 lower. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction to be held later this morning has 627 head consigned compared to last week’s 477 of which none sold, all offered at $123. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 2/3/2020 Total Receipts: 7,512 Last Week: 5,007 Last Year: 8,142 Compared to last week, steer calves 2.00 to…

Kind of rough start yesterday in the cattle complex, especially for the first session following a bullish Cattle Inventory report from Friday. Futures started pretty flat in the live and feeder cattle, traded both sides of unchanged for quite a while and then rallied into the closing bell. One live cattle contract was up triple digits while the rest were just mildly higher. Feeders found triple digit gains from the May contract out through the deeper deferreds, but were just mildly higher on the front two. The bullishness of the inventory data came from a little more active liquidation than what was expected in the beef cattle herd. Beef cows and heifers that have calved were down 1.1%. Beef cow replacement heifers were down 2%.…

Date: February 3rd, 2020 Livestock futures were mixed Friday but yet again lower for the week as hog futures were down over $10 for the week. The fast spreading coronavirus continues to lead the newswires with more travel bans imposed and fear that economies in Southeast Asia will begin to slowdown. Cash feedlot trade backed up $2 this past week to $122 live, the first move off the $124 level this year. Dresses trade in Nebraska developed late last week at $195, $4 lower. UDSA reported January 1 Cattle Inventory down slightly compared to a year ago with all cattle and calves in the United States as of January 1, 2020 at 94.4 million head, slightly below the 94.8 million head on January 1, 2019.…

Date: January 27th, 2020 Livestock futures were mixed Friday but lower for the week. The fast spreading coronavirus that started in China has added quite a bit a fear to all the markets as any disruption or let down in consumer spending and consumption in the largest populated nation is very critical to world trade. Cash feedlot trade starting in the South midweek at $124 live, steady with the week previous and steady now for 4 weeks in a row. Trade in the North again holding out for higher money but settling again steady at $124 live and $198 to $200 on a dressed basis. Monthly cold storage data showed total frozen poultry supplies up 1% from a year ago, although chicken specifically was up…

Date: January 22nd, 2020 Livestock and grain futures were mixed yesterday after the 3-day weekend. There was hope early on that cattle futures would have a strong start with packers running Monday and beef prices higher, but overall it was another early in the week trading day with little direction. Formula totals for last week were mixed, larger in Nebraska, but smaller in Texas and Kansas: Kansas 86,605 (down 13,399), Nebraska 60,284 (up 7,982), Texas 74,955 (down 3,687). Total trade volume was also mixed, higher in Nebraska, somewhat lower in Texas, and lower in Kansas: Kansas 108,370 (down 6,723), Nebraska 85,284 (up 14,102), Texas 81,801 (down 744). New show lists appear to be larger in Kansas, but lower in Texas, and Nebraska/Colorado. The Fed Cattle…

Date: January 21st, 2020 Livestock futures traded mixed to end the week but we still took $1 off live cattle futures and $2 off feeders compared to a week ago. This latest round of winter weather is the first for the season covering the majority of the feeding area yet still not enough to add much weather premium heading into a 3-day weekend. Cash feedlot trade was rolling Thursday first in the South at $124 live, steady with the week previous. Feeders held back for a bit in the North but by late afternoon trades were reported also steady with the week previous at $124 live and $198 to $200 dressed. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 01/17/2020 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet…

Date: January 17th, 2020 Livestock futures and grains finished mostly lower yesterday as it was a mass exodus or liquidation for Ag futures. Cash feedlot trade was rolling yesterday first in the South at $124 live, steady with last week. Feeders held back for a bit in the North but by late afternoon trades were reported also steady with last week at $124 live and $198 to $200 dressed. Volumes should be larger this week than last. Winter Livestock - Dodge City, KS Livestock Weighted Average Report for 1/15/2020 Total Receipts: 4,353 Last Week: 6,455 Last Year: 1,983 Compared to last week: Feeder steers sold mostly 2.00 to 4.00 lower. Feeder heifers sold steady to 2.00 higher. Weaned calves limited comparable weights. Steer calves 1.00…

Date: January 15th, 2020 Mixed but much quieter day for cattle futures yesterday as lean hogs charged triple digits higher. Grains were also mixed as wheat led the way higher, corn and soybeans tried to hold gains but fell short at the end. Equites were mixed along with lower gold, higher crude and a steady US$. Sounds a lot like all the markets were looking for direction in which they currently are. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with 744 head consigned compared to last week’s 470 head of which none sold. Wednesday will still probably be too early in the week for cattle trade but will be a good indication as to how packers perceive this week's trading…

Poor start to the week for the meat complex. Feeder cattle and lean hogs both had contracts down in the triple digits at the close, while the live cattle were just mild to moderately weaker. Another disappointment was an end to the three consecutive weeks of advances in the negotiated cash feedlot trade. $124 traded from north to south Friday, along with $200 dressed in Nebraska. A relatively new month still and new contract cattle to pull kept packers on the defensive and also resulted in just light to moderate negotiated numbers trading at that steady money with the previous week. It probably doesn’t help matters that beef packer margins have eroded very aggressively in the last month from a combination of choice and select…