Author: ploewen

Date: July 23rd, 2018 Cash feedlot trade was light and very late in the day on Friday at $114 live in KS, $3 higher than the week previous and at $180 dressed in the North, $5 higher. July Cattle on Feed Report after the close on Friday was neutral with all coming in right at the average pre report estimates although all values were higher than year ago. USDA Actual Average Guess Range Cattle on Feed July 1 104% 104% 103%-106% June Placements 101% 101.5% 96%-107% June Marketings 101% 101% 99%-107% Placement by Weight Class (expressed as % of previous year) Under 600 lb 107% 600-699 lb 110% 700-799 lb 90% 800-899 lb 98% 900-999 lb 109% Over 1000 lb 105% Placements at 101% also…

Date: July 11th, 2018 Live cattle futures still trending lower with cash trade premium. Lean hogs were sharply lower yesterday with the August contract down the $3 limit. Feeders though are holding a higher trend with early week salebarn reports coming in at steady to a few dollars higher than last week. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Auction Report for 7/2/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago 8,001 2,026 5,329 Compared to last week’s limited offerings: Feeder steers and heifers mostly 1.00-4.00 higher. 500-600 lb steer and heifer calves 1.00-3.00 higher, no test on lighter calves. Compared to two weeks ago: Feeder steers and heifers 5.00-10.00 higher. 500-600 lb steer and heifer calves 7.00-12.00 higher with no test on lightweight calves. Tulsa Stockyards…

Morning Ag Markets Pete Loewen After seeing the largest single week negotiated cash feedlot trade volume in five years last week blow prices up to $5+ gains over the previous week, it was an assumed “given” that we’d see a big rally in futures on Monday. What we learned though was it’s not safe to assume anything in the ag sector futures trade these days. Live and feeder futures were hit with triple digit losses at times, but it wasn’t unique to just the cattle. Hogs got thumped even harder to the downside and the grain and oilseed trade was under active pressure as well. Based on the selling being so widespread, I think we can attribute the weakness in cattle specifically to forces outside…

Date: July 9th, 2018 Cattle futures were sharply higher my midday on Friday from higher cash feedlot trade but got spooked late and pulled lower into the close. Compared to the week previous in the Texas Panhandle live cash trades moved $5 higher from $112 to $113.50 with the bulk at $113. Kansas live cash trades moved $6 higher at $112 with a few up to $113. Nebraska saw live cash trades $6.50 to $7.50 higher from $113.50 to $114 and dressed trade moved $10 to $11 higher mostly at $180.00. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – W/E 07/06/2018 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week 17,000 34,300 29,000 80,300 This Week 182,800 47,400 66,800 297,000 Last Year 15,800 38,200 55,500 109,500 Compared to…

Date: July 3rd, 2018 Livestock were mixed yesterday with light trade volume this holiday week. Livestock markets are open until 12:15 today and close tomorrow. No cash feedlot trade confirmed and even bids and offers are still not well defined. Feeders performed the best yesterday with corn sharply lower and were able to hit new highs not seen since early March. Oklahoma National Stockyards - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Auction Report for 7/2/2018 Receipts Week Ago Year Ago 2,026 8,156 0 Compared to last week: Feeder steers and heifers sold 5.00-8.00 higher. Steer and heifer calves traded with a sharply higher undertone on limited offerings. Demand good. Quality average, few attractive. Joplin Regional Stockyards - Carthage, MO Livestock Auction Report for 7/2/2018 Receipts Week Ago…

Date: July 2nd, 2018 Cash feedlot trade last week was split between Wednesday and Friday. Midweek confirmed sales in NE at $106 live but finished up Friday as high as $107.50 and $170 dressed. KS and TX trade midweek was at $106 live but finished the week at $107 to $108. Boxed-beef cut-out continues its normal seasonal decline as July can be sluggish month for overall beef demand and not necessarily a rally month for fed cattle prices with the extreme hot weather. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – W/E 06/29/2018 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week 182,800 47,400 66,800 297,000 Last Week 164,000 65,800 17,000 246,800 Last Year 134,200 36,200 87,100 257,500 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold 1.00 to…

Coming off on Monday’s nasty bearish reaction to an ugly COF report, yesterday’s trade looked a lot better for the hopeful bulls. Feeder cattle futures all finished mildly higher. Live cattle spend time at higher, but ended with the front four months down a little bit and the feb and beyond contracts up a little. In the product trade, choice cutouts have now been down 14 out of the last 15 sessions, which means beef packer margins are tightening, but they are also still very solidly in the green. That doesn’t necessarily mean they will be willing to pay up for cattle this week, but it does mean they have wiggle room to do it if they feel the need. Unfortunately with a reduced kill…

Date: June 26th, 2018 The bearish Cattle on Feed and Cold Storage reports from last Friday pressured cattle futures on Monday, live cattle to limit lower and feeders $3+ lower. There is a sharp decline in show lists this week, slaughter last week was the largest of the year at 664K head and expected to be near that level again this week. A couple thousand head of cash fats confirmed for Monday at $108 to $109 live and $170 to $172 dressed, steady to $2 lower from the majority of last week’s trade. Monday’s salebarns…Joplin with 9,442 head compared to 7,280 last week. Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves steady to mostly $3 to $5 lower, yearlings steady to $3 lower. OKC had…

Date: June 25th, 2018 Cash feedlot trade finally got going Friday as packers held firm all week. Trading began at $109 to $110 live, steady to $1 lower than the week previous. It continued to fall throughout the day on Friday down to $107 live and $170 to $174 on a dressed basis in the North, up to $6 lower than a week ago. Bearish USDA Cold Storage Report with Total Red Meat 9% higher than a year ago and Beef up 13% from a year ago. Followed by another bearish Cattle On Feed Report. Cattle on feed as of June 1st totaled 11.6 million head, 104% vs. a year ago and 1 point higher than the pre report estimate. Placements during May equal to…

Welcome to Summer! ...er uh, spring, or whatever Ma Nature calls this wonderful cool weather day Grain market bulls caught a little glimmer of hope on Wednesday when the Tuesday night session finished in the green and the day session started out that way as well. Those hopes faded into worry when things went red very shortly after the start. They did come back to unchanged or a little higher at the close though. Whether it’s the fact crop conditions have started out the year really good this growing season in the Corn Belt, or funds have been massive sellers in recent days, none of that has been getting as much attention as the finger pointing at Trump and trade wars as the sole culprit.…