DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/16 14:50

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/16 14:50 Cattle Futures Significantly Lower at Midday Live and feeder cattle futures are once again struggling in the face of fill-in pressure with bears nervous about cash stability and late-year beef demand. Lean hog contracts are mixed near midday with nearbys losing more ground to deferreds. By John Harrington DTN Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Packer inquiry in cattle country is light to moderate at midday. A few live sales have been reported in Texas at $118, roughly $1 lower than last week. Dressed bids in the North ranged from $183 to $185, but so far actual business has not developed. Asking prices are generally $121-plus in the South and $190-plus in the North. According to the midday report, the Iowa hog base was not reported due to confidentiality issues. The five-day rolling average is $51.57. Corn futures are 5 to 6 cents lower at midday. LIVE CATTLE: Live cattle contracts are moderately lower near midday. Despite Tuesday's late rally, bulls have been unable to recruit follow-through buying interest. Spot December has fallen below $120, pressured by cash uncertainties and worries that late-year beef demand will continue to falter. Beef cut-outs are higher at midday, up $1.29 (select, $198.50) to up $0.38 (choice, $187.19) with light box movement (46 loads of choice cuts, 15 loads of select cuts, 14 loads of trimmings, 29 loads of coarse grinds). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeder cattle futures are getting pounded near the noon hour with triple-digit losses evident throughout the complex. Indeed, many months are once again setting new contract lows despite the fact that corn prices are really having trouble this morning. Note that feeders continued to lose ground to their live counterparts, clearly a sign of dismal feedlot margins and equity loss. LEAN HOGS: Lean hogs are mostly lower at this time with nearbys especially under the gun. The premium status of February and April looks increasingly vulnerable to some given the relentless pace of late-year slaughter and the discount status of the cash index. Additionally, some may be getting nervous about new data contained in the Dec. 1 Hogs and Pigs report due out next week (i.e. Wednesday the 23rd). Pork cut-out: $73.90, off $1.34. CME cash lean 12/11: 55.98, off 0.42 (DTN Projected lean index for 12/14: 55.90, off 0.08). John A. Harrington can be reached at john.harrington@dtn.com (BAS) Copyright 2015 DTN/The Progressive Farmer. All rights reserved.