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Little bit of a sour start to the week yesterday with live and feeder cattle both finishing lower. Coming off a major up move from Friday though, the mildly weaker finish wasn’t too alarming. What was alarming was negotiated cash last week only being able to manage steady money with the previous week in the Southern Plains at $119, despite Nebraska and the western Corn Belt gaining a little. Especially odd was Dec fats trading over $122 at the close Friday versus that $119. The stout gains Friday turned a quietly lower futures trend back into a nice looking bull market on the charts. Dec live cattle made new recent highs, but is just a shade shy of the contract highs from back in April.…

Date: December 16th, 2019 Cattle futures finished triple digits higher and throughout the entire grain and livestock complex the only to finish strong. All other commodities faded from early morning gains as the Phase 1 U.S./China deal continues to be murky and incomplete. Cash feedlot trade was light all week at $118 to $119 live and $188 dressed. Volume picked up Thursday in TX and KS at $119 live. In the North, live trade topped out at $122 live and $190 dressed, both $2 to $3 higher than the week previous. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY–WEEK ENDING 12/13/2019 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This week: 347,200 34,400 1,900 383,500 Last week: 286,900 26,000 56,700 369,600 Year Ago: 257,900 36,700 26,400 321,000 Compared to last…

Date: December 11th, 2019 Livestock futures finished mixed yesterday while grains were higher. Light cash feedlot trade so far this week at $118 to $119 live, steady to $1 lower than last week. I would hope to see $119 to $120 trade ahead of the holidays. Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will held later today with 1,068 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,189 head of which 860 sold at a weighted average of $118.36. Boxed beef prices continue to press lower, Choice now down over $20 since peaking back at $242.34 back in mid-November. USDA updated meat supply and demand yesterday with 2019 production expected to increase 2.85 billion pounds over 2018 and 2020 numbers are expected to be up another 2.83 billion pounds.…

Date: December 9th, 2019 Cattle futures rebounded for a higher close on Friday but still finished lower for the week. Cash feedlot trade starting midweek in the South at $119 live, steady to $1 higher than the week previous. Trade in Nebraska was reported at $119 live and $188 dressed, also steady to $1 higher. The Tyson plant is back up and running pushing daily kills back up to the 120K head per day range. This has negatively impacted beef prices down sharply this past week. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 12/06/2019 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This week: 286,900 26,000 56,700 352,900 Last week: 58,600 25,900 100 84,600 Year Ago: 330,400 51,000 3,600 385,000 Compared to two weeks ago, steers…

Date: December 2nd, 2019 Cattle futures finished lower on Friday on light volume but still managed to hold gains for the week. Cash feedlot trade was on Wednesday with trade in the South at $118 to $119 live, $2 to $3 higher than the week previous. Trade in Nebraska was reported at $118 to $120 live and $187 to $188 on a dressed basis, $2 to $4 higher. Lean hogs were able to jump triple digits higher and pull week over week changes back in the green. Weekly export sales were not very impressive but China did jump in a buy another 17,700 MT of pork for 2020. NATIONAL FEEDER & STOCKER CATTLE SUMMARY – WEEK ENDING 11/29/2019 RECEIPTS: Auctions Direct Video/Internet Total This week:…

Date: November 26th, 2019 Last week’s cash feedlot trade confirmed over 103,000 head compared to 86,000 the week previous at an average price just under $116 live and just over $184 dressed. It took some time for the cattle futures to react to the positive cold storage and at least positive to pre report expectations on the Cattle on Feed report, but by mid-morning yesterday all contracts were triple digits higher. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 11/25/2019 Total Receipts: 13,045 Last Week: 7,812 Last Year: 9,990 Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves 3.00 to 5.00 lower, yearling steers evenly steady, yearling heifers steady to 3.00 higher. Demand moderate to good, supply heavy. A Yearling Special…

Date: November 25th, 2019 Cattle futures finished lower for the week, feeders sharply lower as the January contract becomes the front month. Cash feedlot trade reported at $1 to $2 higher starting midweek. Trade in the South reported at $116 live while trade in the North $115 to $117 live and mostly $184 dressed. November Cattle on Feed Report USDA Actual Average Estimate Cattle on Feed November 1 101% 101.4% Placed on Feed in October 110% 112.2% Marketed in October 99% 99.6% Overall neutral to friendly versus the expectations, bearish big picture with placements up 10% vs. a year ago. Just a reminder that placements a year ago were lower though due to terrible weather conditions as well. Cold Storage • Total frozen poultry down…

Date: November 20th, 2019 Mixed trade so far for cattle futures this week, but good to see some positive settlements after trading triple digits lower yesterday. Lean hog futures continue lower, into new recent lows the past 4 trading sessions as pork prices were sharply lower. Light cash feedlot trade this week scattered around at $114 to $116 live. The Fed Cattle Exchange online auction will be held later today with 1,398 head consigned compared to last week’s 1,264 head of which non sold but were all offered at $115. Joplin Regional Stockyards Feeder Cattle - Carthage, MO Livestock Weighted Average Report for 11/18/2019 Total Receipts: 7,812 Last Week: 6,931 Last Year: 6,410 Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves and yearlings steady to…

The start of the week brought active selling to the lean hog futures that resulted in $2+ losses in quite a few contract months. Interesting setup in the hogs, because deferred futures all develop strong premiums based on the anticipation of continued strong Chinese purchases of US pork. We get good export numbers and inevitably the closer we get to expiration of these hog futures month, the more active the selloff becomes. So, demand potential builds the premium, demand shows up and the premium goes away before the contract expires. Crazy trade. Active expansion is still going on in the pork sector and the balancing act between increased exports and increased production has generally resulted in production outpacing those exports still. Daily and weekly kill…