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Pretty depressing day of trade in the cattle yesterday. At the close, the feeders had several contract months down in the triple digits and April live cattle were down over $1 as well. The rest of the live cattle months were just mild to moderately weaker. Weekly export sales were bullish for both beef and pork with 44,700 mt’s of sales in pork and 25,100 in beef. Hogs finished up, cattle obviously didn’t, so I don’t think there was any bearing on the market from that data. In the negotiated cash feedlot trade, with packers losing a lot of leverage in recent months, unfortunately that now morphed into a lot fewer days of actual price discovery and trading in cash each week. Cattle feeders digging…

Date: January 25th, 2023 Cattle futures were quietly mixed on Tuesday, honestly all markets were lacking interest. Outside markets traded both sides of unchanged throughout the day. Cash fed cattle trade still holding off until later in the week with smaller showlists and sharply higher asking prices. There continues to be some optimism for higher cash trade this week which is supporting futures while some pressure may come from beef prices sliding lower. It is still a game of leverage as packers try to hold strong margins and producers try to gain some. Live cattle certainly look better than feeders and lean hogs as they continue to hold a higher trend vs. the other two trying to climb out of new recent lows hit last…

Date: January 24th, 2023 Livestock futures mostly higher on Monday as cattle futures were able to hold gains into the close but lean hogs slipped into the red. Lower corn prices supportive yesterday along with spillover support from Friday’s neutral to overall friendly Cattle on Feed report. A recap of last week’s cash fed cattle trade shows Northern cattle mostly at $248 dressed, $3 lower than the week previous and Southern live trade mostly at $155, $1 lower. Volume last week totaled 63,454 head. Of that, 83% (52,835 head) were committed for the nearby delivery, while the remaining 17% (10,619 head) were committed for the deferred delivery. Show lists are smaller this week and asking prices are starting out sharply higher. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER…

Date: January 18th, 2023 Equites sharply lower and grains higher providing most of the pressure on cattle futures yesterday. It didn’t help to have last week’s cash fed cattle trade to wrap up the week at $1 to $2 lower. It also did not help so see that 1/3 of the volume was for deferred delivery. Leverage is the key word this week as packers will try to maintain it and feeders will be trying to regain some. Live cattle futures broke through nearby support levels while feeders now 4 consecutive days trading lower and into new recent lows. Lean hogs spent most the day triple digits higher but starting trimming gains midday with the nearby Feb contract finishing lower while all deferred contracts held…

Date: January 17th, 2023 Livestock futures last Friday finished mixed as well as for the week. Live cattle were able to hold small gains week over week, but both feeders and lean hogs were lower with pressure coming from higher corn prices. Cash fed cattle trade volume was light again last week and steady to $2 lower than the week previous. Live trade in KS and TX at $156 with trade in the North from $156 to $158 live and $250 to $255 on a dressed basis. Supplies will continue to get tighter as weights have already been reported lower to begin the New Year. Packer margins are still very good and should continue to keep chainspeeds near max capacity. For the week, Friday January…

Date: January 12th, 2023 Livestock futures steady to lower yesterday with yet again new lows for lean hogs. Nearby February lean hogs have lost nearly $13 since December 27th. Cash fed cattle trade still only light volume so far this week in the North at $158 live and $252 dressed, $1 to $2 higher than last week’s early trading. Smaller show lists and lower weights should be supportive this week. Packers should also be running near max capacity with higher beef prices and hoping to hold cash steady this week, even though Choice did take a dip lower yesterday. Asking prices in the South still $158 to $160 live and $160+ in the North. Oklahoma National Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Oklahoma City, OK Livestock Weighted…

Date: January 9th, 2023 Livestock futures finished lower last Friday which again led to losses week over week. Cash fed cattle trade on the lighter volume side from steady to $1 lower than the week previous. Live trade in the South reported at $157 with trade in North from $157 to $160 live and mostly $252 on a dressed basis. Beef prices continue to climb higher which is overall friendly as packers should be near max capacity and trying to sell as much as possible. Choice Beef to Pork Cutout now out to 3.37:1 which means beef is over 3 times more expensive to pork and could begin to hurt beef demand. Weekly export sales in essence wrapped up for the year with net cancelations…

Date: December 29th, 2022 Livestock futures mixed yesterday as low volume holiday trading takes hold and little new news. As of the close, no cash fed cattle trade yet this week, no bids yet either as this this week’s volume will be lighter than a normal week’s run just like last week. Early asking prices started at $158+ live. After the close, light volume was reported at steady to $1 higher than last week at $158 live and $248 dressed. Beef prices held steady which remains supportive. Feeders were able to hold small gains yesterday even in the face of higher corn prices. Lean hogs were mixed to lower with both pork prices and cash lower. Cattle slaughter on Wednesday estimated at 128,000 head, up…

Date: December 28th, 2022 Livestock futures began the week mixed as live cattle were supported by sharply higher beef prices but feeders lower with grains higher. Beef prices continue to rally this month, up over $26 since the beginning of the month and over $37 from this month’s lows. Choice sharply again yesterday, now topping $280. Lean hogs started this week sharply higher in the nearby supported by last week’s friendly Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report. USDA also released its monthly cattle on feed report late Friday which was overall friendly as well even though placements were a little higher than expected. The pre report trade estimate was at 96% vs. a year ago but November placements totaled 1.93 million head, only 2% below a…

Date: December 20th, 2022 Livestock futures opened higher yesterday with grains under pressure but soon fell victim to the overall commodity selloff to begin the week. Live cattle held the best with small gains, lean hogs were mixed and feeders hit with triple digit losses. I am a little surprised that feeders didn’t hold up better. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY - WEEK ENDING 12/17/2022 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold steady to 3.00 higher in the South Central and Southeast, while the North Central region sold 1.00 to 3.00 lower. Demand was moderate to good. Quality is a bit harder to find currently and mostly just a timing issue as much of this years' marketing is complete with many producers holding…