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Date: February 17th, 2021 Livestock futures mixed yesterday and looking for direction, cattle futures did a decent job of defending last week’s rally. How many slaughter plants are down and for how long is the lingering question? Yesterday was the second day of rolling electrical outages in the 14 state Southwest Power Pool. Most salebarns have cancelled sales this week. A pork plant in Alberta is shutting down for an indefinite time due to continued COVID outbreaks. This carries good and bad news as this could help already bullish exports from the U.S. but also the market fears are still present here in the states of another wave shutting down plants. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 02/13/2021 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet…

Date: February 16th, 2021 Livestock futures higher on Friday and higher for the week. Cash feedlot trade disappointing last week though with the high end midweek steady with the week previous at $114 live but faded to end the week with light volume down to $112. Dressed trade in the North held steady at $180. Delivery against the February live cattle contract should get ramped up again as it continues to trade at $3 to $4 premium to cash. There was some chatter that a few slaughter plants may have to shut down heading into this week due to freezing temps and a lack of or redirecting natural gas needs. For the week, Friday February 5th through Friday February 12th, February Live Cattle +$.47, April…

Date: February 10th, 2021 Livestock and grain futures mixed yesterday with cattle futures and soybeans finished mostly higher while corn and wheat lower. Cash feedlot trade very light so far this week on some cleanup trading at $178 dressed in the Western Corn Belt and $114 to $114.25 live in TX and KS. Asking prices to move sizeable volume as high as $117 live and $185 dressed. The largest supplies of slaughter ready cattle are behind us now which should lead to trading leverage in the hands of feeders. Bitter cold weather throughout the plains this week will impact gains, most cattle will perform poorly and some will lose weight. USDA updated supply and demand yesterday with the largest change on the livestock side for…

Date: February 8th, 2021 Livestock futures mixed on Friday but mostly higher for the week. Cash feedlot trade also higher with live trade mostly at $114, $1 to $2 higher than the week previous and dressed trade from $178 to $180, steady to $2 higher. Boxed beef prices though were mixed for the week yet packer margins are still solid and promote keeping the chainspeeds up. For the week, Friday January 29th through Friday February 5th, February Live Cattle +$1.67, April +$1.92, January Feeder Cattle +$.55, March +$1.45, February Lean Hogs +$1.17, April +$3.65, February Pork Cutout Futures -$.07. Choice Cutout +$.63 @$234.58, Select Cutout - $1.91 @ $220.79, Pork Carcass Cutout -$1.18 @ $84.18. Cattle slaughter from Friday estimated at 113,000 head and Saturday…

Date: February 3rd, 2021 Livestock futures held mostly triple digit gains reversing from Monday’s losses. Lower grains helping to support feeders. Cash feedlot trade quiet so far this week. Higher trade should be possible again this week as packers procured 86% of last week’s needs for two-week delivery. If they were flush with inventory more volume would have been for the 15-30 day delivery. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 2/1/2021 Total Receipts: 4,016 Last Week: 5,928 Last Year: 7,512 Compared to last week, steers under 700 lbs. traded 1.00-7.00 higher, over 700 lbs. traded steady. Heifers under 600 lbs. traded 3.00-7.00 higher. Over 600 lbs. traded steady. Very muddy conditions caused the supply to be light. Demand…

Date: January 25th, 2021 Livestock futures sharply higher to end last week with the heaviest volume March feeder contract limit higher. Beef prices pushed higher last week as well but cash feedlot trade was only able to remain steady with the week previous. Trade in South mostly $110 to $111 live and in Nebraska at $110 to $111 live and mostly $173 on a dressed basis. Friday’s Cattle on Feed report was a little bearish with on feed and placements higher than expected. Cattle on Feed as of January 1st totaled 12.0 million head, slightly above a year ago. December Placements totaled 1.84 million head, 1% above 2020. Marketings of fed cattle during December totaled 1.85 million head, also 1% percent above 2020. For the…

Cattle complex futures finished mixed to mostly lower in fats and the feeder cattle market was moderate to actively higher with a few $1+ gains at the finish. Some of those were pushing up close to $2 higher at the peak, but that was also when corn was at it’s low point. The corn market was getting throttled again to the downside early in the day. Negotiated cash feedlot trade saw some action at $109-$110 in Kansas, $109-$111 in Texas and $109 live in Nebraska. That’s all close to $1 lower than last week’s top. A lower trending cash market doesn’t jive well with the old saying “higher corn makes higher live cattle”, but when you look at the placement trends from last fall in…

Date: January 20th, 2021 Tuesday livestock futures traded mixed with nearby live cattle higher but deferred contracts lower, all but the soon to expire January feeder cattle contract higher and lean hogs futures triple digits lower. The soy complex was sharply lower and corn following allowing feeders to catch a break after being under pressure the past few weeks. Cash feedlot trade last week was disappointing at lower money and larger volumes than expected with over 60K head committed for delivery in the next two weeks and over 35K head for delivery 15 to 30 days out. So far this week, only some light trade in TX at $110.50 live and in the Western Corn Belt at $105. There continues to be enough supply for…

Date: January 19th, 2021 Livestock futures rebounded to end the week but still finished week over week lower. Soaring grains prices continue to provide overall pressure. Cash feedlot trade came under pressure as well this past week trading $1 to $4 lower than the week previous at $109 to $111 live and $172 to $174 on a dressed basis. Mild liquidation still seen has long term friendly for both the cattle and hog markets but demand will have to come back to pre COVID levels before getting too excited for a long lasting rally. For the week, Friday January 8th through Friday January 15th, February Live Cattle -$1.70, April -$1.10, January Feeder Cattle -$1.25, March -$1.00, February Lean Hogs -$.77, April -$.17, February Pork Cutout…

Date: January 13th, 2021 Hello January USDA Reports! Corn limit higher, all grains into new highs, cattle triple digits lower as feed costs continue to soar. Feeders of course hit the hardest yesterday as the grains continue to rally. Nearby live cattle futures were lower but some optimism holding August and beyond near $1 higher. Cash feedlot trade starting out disappointing with light trade in the Western Corn Belt at $109 to $111 live & $173 to $174 dressed which is steady to $3 lower from last week. Some minor changes on the 2021 supply and demand side for the meats with beef production down 70 million pounds, beef exports though up 10 million, pork production down 55 million pounds, pork exports down 175 million…