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Back on Monday we had the massive meltdown in equities and the “sell it all” reaction by literally everything in the ags and a lot of other markets as well. On days like that, digging for commodity specific reasoning or information is kind of a useless task. Instead, you just brush if off and hope the next day doesn’t come with the same influences and crazy trade that has absolutely nothing to do with fundamentals. Yesterday was a lot less stressful than Monday, because meats and grains were avoiding the influence of outside markets for the most part. Cattle complex futures traded on both sides of unchanged. Hogs did not though. They started higher and finished a lot higher. Cattle started mixed and finished under…

Date: September 22nd, 2020 Livestock futures started this week mixed to mostly lower. Heavy cattle continue to add tonnage as consumer demand along with exports continue to grind through the excess supplies with a continued lack of demand from hotel, restaurant and school programs. Showlists though do appear to be smaller again this week with the light feedlot placement this past spring. Fundamentals should be the market mover this week with the USDA Cold Storage report later this afternoon, the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report on Thursday then the Cattle on Feed report after the close on Friday. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 9/21/2020 Total Receipts: 5,679 Last Week: 6,075 Last Year: 4,667 Compared to last week,…

Date: September 16th, 2020 Livestock futures finished mostly steady to higher yesterday led by feeders. Live cattle futures continue to be apprehensive as beef prices continue to slide lower and packers have held control over cash trade which is yet to develop this week. Packers did test the market yesterday at $103 which only resulted in a couple hundred sold out of IA. The question still remains though how will the short placements from March and April effect the supplies of fed cattle? We should be just starting to see those smaller numbers now through the month of October has showlists do appear to be smaller this week. There is still a push to move fed cattle though from the backlog created by COVID with…

With product and cash back on the heavy defensive, it’s been good to see live and feeder cattle futures continue the bounce higher after falling hard during the last half of August. Live cattle finished yesterday’s session up more than $1 on all but one contract month. Feeders were up triple digits in everything, including the October contract that settled more than $2 higher. Then, there was the hog market… Germany confirming ASF in hogs last week and South Korea immediately banned all German imports. China was a little slower to respond, but they banned them as well. Germany is the largest pork producer in the EU, so the potential from this is the US picking up even more of the world export trade and…

Date: September 14th, 2020 The holiday shortened trading week ending pretty well for the Ag sector, all but wheat finishing higher. Cattle futures flipped from steady to lower up to higher as the day progressed last Friday. Lean hog futures did not take full advantage of their expanding daily limits but still gapped higher again on Friday and finished $2 to $3 higher. The African swine fever discovery in Germany led to an immediate import ban in South Korea and most likely a ban into China. Cash feedlot trade continues to grind lower with live sales reported last week from $100 to $101 and dressed trade from $160 to $162, $1 to $3 lower than the week previous. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY –…

Date: September 9th, 2020 Livestock futures held gains yesterday to start the holiday shortened week even with another selloff in the equites and firm corn prices. Last week’s bearish cash trade as yet to spill over into this week, although I would expect to see steady to lower trade again this week. Last week’s negotiated sales only totaled 80,959 head, the lowest volume traded since early May. Showlists appear to be bigger in KS while lower in TX and NE. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with 892 head consigned compared to last week’s 436 head of which 365 sold at $103 live. Lean hogs started the day lower, but another sharply higher midday report for pork led to…

Date: September 8th, 2020 Livestock futures finished last week on a higher note, cattle lower though week over week as hogs continue to rally. Cash feedlot trade losing some ground with live sales reported last week from $102 to $104 and dressed trade from $162 to $165, both of which $2 to $4 lower than the week previous. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 09/04/2020 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This Week: 160,800 27,900 5,200 193,900 Last Week: 156,200 38,700 280,300 475,200 Year Ago: 106,800 58,100 14,700 179,600 Compared to last week, steers and heifers sold 1.00 to 5.00 lower. Around the Labor Day holiday, many auctions proceed to have customer appreciation sales. Many ranchers set their marketing plan around selling cattle…

Date: September 4th, 2020 Yesterday was a mixed day for the Ag commodities. Cattle futures continue to slide lower as lean hog futures gapped higher. Beef export sales were in line expectations while pork sales were bullish. Beef prices continue to slide lower as pork values shot higher yesterday. Cash feedlot trade continues this week to creep lower with reports out of TX down to $102 live and dressed trade in the North down to $162. Feeders continue to take the biggest hit since peaking in early August. Technically its looking bearish now and the fundamentals are not as support either. Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission Co. - Salina, KS Livestock Weighted Average Report for 9/3/2020 Total Receipts: 1,615 Last Week: 2,573 Last Year: 1,887…

Date: September 2nd, 2020 It was a mostly higher day across the Ag commodities yesterday. Cattle futures were mixed as lean hogs moved higher. Cash feedlot trade as begun already this week at lower money again. Trade has been reported in the South at $103 to $104 live which is a $1 lower than last week while trade in the North is $2 to $4 lower at $103 live and $163 to $164 on a dressed basis. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 8/31/2020 Total Receipts: 5,751 Last Week: 5,446 Last Year: 0 Compared to last week, steer calves and yearlings steady, except yearlings over 800 lbs weak to 2.00 lower, heifer calves steady to 3.00 higher. Demand…

After Friday’s solidly bearish COF release, there were a lot of wishes and hopes that we’d see a fade the report-type trade yesterday and go up, not down, like the bearish data suggested. The numbers proved to be a little too heavy on the bearish side to avoid a selloff though and the result was some significant losses in most feeder cattle contracts and losses on the live side ranging from mild on the front end to heavy in the deeper deferreds. A record large inventory at the bunkline for August 1, placements up 11% from a year ago and marketings 1% under a year ago rounded out the trifecta of negative numbers. The result was a gap lower open in most contract months for…