Author: ploewen

There was a lot of green on the screen across the meat complex to start the week. Feeder cattle got a boost from a giant drop in corn on Friday and another fallout yesterday as well. That cheaper feedgrain picture helped back end contracts more than the front though with the August only up mildly, Sept was up less than $1 and then $1+ gains were the norm from the October and beyond contracts. Live cattle trade was higher, but only mildly and the front end August was the only red ink across the whole meat complex. Hogs were coming off of what I would call a bearish Quarterly Hog and Pig report from Friday. The total inventory and market hog numbers were up 4%…

Date: July 1st, 2019 Cattle futures finished the week mixed trying to keep up with the volatile grain market and month end trading of its own. TX and KS cash feedlot trade reported at $109 live finally on Friday while in the North trade trickled in throughout the week from $110 to $112.50 live and $175 to $180 dressed. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 06/28/2019 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week 156,200 35,700 46,100 238,000 Last Week 155,900 41,600 15,000 212,500 Year Ago 182,800 47,400 66,800 297,000 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold uneven; 3.00 lower to 3.00 higher. There were instances of auctions in the North Central area calling their markets up to 8.00 to 10.00 higher…

Date: June 28th, 2019 Not much follow through for cattle futures after feeders limit higher Wednesday. June fats popped triple digits higher, finally catching up to cash trade, all other contracts steady to weaker. Cash trade so far this week still very light with some trade in the North from $108 to $112.50 and $175 to $180 dressed. Lean hogs trying to hold nearby support this week with futures flat so far this week. USDA though out with a neutral to slightly bearish Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report after the close as very little directional changes but estimates exceeding expectations by 1% throughout. United States inventory of all hogs and pigs on June 1, 2019 was 75.5 million head. This was up 4% from June…

Date: June 26th, 2019 Cattle futures again mixed yesterday with fats higher and feeders lower. Cash feedlot trade quiet on Monday with just a few hundred head moving at $178 dressed which is the bottom end of the range from last week. Tuesday a few thousand head traded in the North at $108 live and $180 dressed, steady with last week. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with only 148 head consigned compared to last week’s 315 head of which none sold. Lean hogs able to stay triple digits higher yesterday, although still an inside trading day form the previous session and at this time just a pause in the price collapse witnessed since mid-April. USDA will release its…

The relentless beating of the feeder cattle market continued on Monday with triple digit losses across all of the contract months, some pushing close to $2 lower. Hogs were deep in the triples with most contracts down more than $3. Live cattle trade spent time on both sides of unchanged and managed a higher close on the front two months, but all the back months were mildly lower past the August. A lot of the feeder cattle contract months sunk to new life of contract lows, opening the door to a lot of thin air below. Plus, it wasn’t difficult to figure out another culprit in that selling either, because corn and the rest of the grain and oilseed trade was solid green on the…

Date: June 24th, 2019 Cattle futures finished the week triple digits lower as lean hogs finished down the $3 limit. Cash feedlot trade $2 to $3 lower than the week previous at $108 to $110 live in TX and KS, NE $110 live and dressed trade ranged from $176-$187. Cattle on Feed June 1 at 11.7 million head, 102.0% vs. last year and the highest June 1 inventory since the series began in 1996. Placements in May at 97.0% with Marketings at 101.0%. Not much to see in the report. Placements were skewed towards heavier cattle. On Feed total was slightly larger than the estimate, viewed overall neutral to slightly bearish. Total red meat supplies and total frozen poultry supplies on May 31, 2019 were…

Date: June 19th, 2019 Livestock futures traded mixed to higher yesterday as feedgrains pulled back some. The only cash feedlot trade to report so far this week was out of IA with a few hundred head trading steady at $115 live to $3 lower at $181 dressed. Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with 315 head consigned compared to last week’s 663 head of which 340 sold at $113 in KS. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 6/17/2019 Total Receipts: 3,766 Last Week: 4,222 Last Year: 7,280 Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves steady to 3.00 higher, yearlings steady. except 600 weight heifers 3.00 to 5.00 higher. Demand moderate to good,…

Pretty good day of solid green ink across most of ag sector to start the week. The exception being some of the wheat contracts that were down mildly in the face of new highs most markets early and then wheat slowly losing ground as the day progressed. In the meats, triple digit gains of over $1 were the norm, although live cattle trade had a few more sub-$1+ closes than triples. Good day overall though, especially given the fact most months spent some time at lower money during the session as well. Plus, with the corn market on a tear higher at times, seeing feeders on the plus side of unchanged was fantastic. Technical analysis of that feeder market showed a strong bullish key reversal…

Date: June 12th, 2019 The initial pressure on livestock futures came right after the major adjustment by USDA for new crop corn yesterday as corn reversed higher and the focus became higher feeding costs once again. Friendly news from USDA with both beef and pork production estimates lower for this year and 2020 along with pork exports increasing by 200 million pounds for 2019 to 6.466 billion and 270 million pounds for 2020 to 6.945 billion. Cash feedlot trade mostly inactive so far, a few hundred head in the North have traded at $182 dressed so far this week which is towards the lower end of last week’s trade. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with 663 head consigned…

Pretty amazing start to the week for the entire meat complex. When news hit the press that the US wasn’t going to slap tariffs on Mexico, it sparked a huge rally across all three of the meat contracts. Hogs were up over $3 at times and finished with everything except the front month June at $2+ in the net changes. Feeders were up over $2 on everything and traded strongly over $3 higher at times. The live cattle trade finished with the August contract up the $3 limit and the rest of the months strongly in the triple digits higher as well. We can chalk the gains up to a Mexico trade-led rally based on news sources, but I don’t see things changing much with…