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Date: January 15th, 2020 Mixed but much quieter day for cattle futures yesterday as lean hogs charged triple digits higher. Grains were also mixed as wheat led the way higher, corn and soybeans tried to hold gains but fell short at the end. Equites were mixed along with lower gold, higher crude and a steady US$. Sounds a lot like all the markets were looking for direction in which they currently are. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later this morning with 744 head consigned compared to last week’s 470 head of which none sold. Wednesday will still probably be too early in the week for cattle trade but will be a good indication as to how packers perceive this week's trading…

Poor start to the week for the meat complex. Feeder cattle and lean hogs both had contracts down in the triple digits at the close, while the live cattle were just mild to moderately weaker. Another disappointment was an end to the three consecutive weeks of advances in the negotiated cash feedlot trade. $124 traded from north to south Friday, along with $200 dressed in Nebraska. A relatively new month still and new contract cattle to pull kept packers on the defensive and also resulted in just light to moderate negotiated numbers trading at that steady money with the previous week. It probably doesn’t help matters that beef packer margins have eroded very aggressively in the last month from a combination of choice and select…

Date: January 10th, 2020 Small gains for cattle futures as lean hogs were triple digits lower. Cash feedlot trade still light so far this week with only a few hundred head so far at $125 live and $198 dressed which is steady with last week. Farmers and Ranchers Livestock Commission Co. - Salina, KS Livestock Weighted Average Report for 1/9/2020 Total Receipts: 4,439 Last Reported 1/2/20: 3,448 Compared to last week: Steers 650-950 lbs steady to 2.00 higher. Heifers 650-1050 lbs steady to 3.00 lower. Steers and heifers 650 lbs and under higher undertone noted. Winter Livestock - Dodge City, KS Livestock Weighted Average Report for 1/9/2020 Total Receipts: 6,455 Last Reported 12/18/19: 2,828 Last Year: 3,395 Compared to three weeks ago: Feeder steers sold…

Date: January 6th, 2020 All grain and livestock futures were lower to end the week as gold and crude shot higher as the ramp up with Iran took center stage. Cash feedlot trade last week was reported at $2 higher than the week previous with $124 to $125 live and $198 to $200 dressed sales. Export sales for December 20th through the 26th were bearish for beef at only 3,700 MT for 2019 and 5,700 MT for 2020. Exports were down 23% from the 4-week average as well at 12,600 MT. Net pork sales and shipments though were friendly with 24,100 MT sales for 2020 and shipments at 30,600 MT. Net sales for 2019 were a marketing year low of 3,300 MT due to cancellations…

The ag commodity complex finally picked up some steam and volatility in the price movement yesterday after a long hiatus of really slow action. Case in point, live and feeder cattle futures have been trading in close to a $1 range from high to low through the Christmas and New Year weeks, but fats expanded to more than $2 from high to low and feeders over $3 in yesterday’s range. Unfortunately, most of that was at lower money as well with some steep losses at times. By the close though, the active selling subsided and prices moved back closer to unchanged with a finish that was just mildly lower in cattle. Hogs closed out the day mildly higher. Finding solid reasoning for the cattle weakness…

Date: December 27th, 2019 Livestock futures finished higher yesterday with feeders triple digit higher as we opened after the Christmas Day break. Cash feedlot trade has been mostly inactive, only light volume trade at $122 live which is $2 higher than a week ago. Their certainly hasn’t been any rush by feedlots as the December contract is $3+ premium to last week’s cash and expiring next Tuesday. Also the carry to the February contract of another $3+ is supportive as well. The U.S. hog supply is still burdensome and keeping pressure on prices but hope is building that China will soon be turning the corner and begin rebuilding their hog herd. Until then, China will continue to be a major protein importer. Cattle slaughter from…

I wouldn’t say it was a great start to the week for the cattle complex on Monday, but it was better than expected given the fact Cattle on Feed numbers from last Friday afternoon had a bearish undertone. The On Feed total came in at 102% which was just barely over the pre-report estimates. Placements were 4.1 points over the average trade guess, coming in at 105% and marketings came in under the expectations at 97%. That could have very easily resulted in triple digit losses yesterday, but the open was quietly lower. The close was mixed in live cattle with an equal share of higher and lower. Feeders were down mildly and both markets had fairly tight ranges of trade from high to low.…