DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/01 13:30

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/01 13:30 May Day Bringing Excitement to the Livestock Complex May Day has lifted the livestock complex morale and is pushing all three contracts higher in to the weekend. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst General Comments All sorts of positivity seen on the first day of the month as the entire futures complex trades higher and cash cattle trade in the South is even higher. The board strengthening throughout the week has helped lift some spirits and then announcements from various plants that production will amp up as soon as next week are the biggest encouragement. July corn is down 2 1/2 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $1.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 557.68 points and NASDAQ is down 275.33 points. LIVE CATTLE Live cattle contracts head into Friday's noon hour fully higher and ready to close the week on a strong note. June live cattle are up $0.87 at $86.82, August live cattle are up $0.27 at $92.37 and October live cattle are up $0.35 at $96.75. Earlier in the morning the complex was more robust in its progression but even though contracts have tapped down their pace, higher is higher! A light trade is developing in parts of the South at $105 -- $1 higher than last week's weighted average in Kansas and $8 higher than last week's weighted average in Texas. Some asking prices remain firm around $100 on a live basis, and $160 dressed. Another round of light business took place in parts of the North on Thursday at mostly $150, steady with Tuesday, and Wednesday's decline, but $4 below last week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $6.29 ($373.85) and select up $7.00 ($357.16) with a movement of 58 loads (33.08 loads of choice, 3.62 loads of select, 14.52 loads of trim and 7.14 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE Feeder cattle contracts are fully higher at midday and were trading substantially higher at midmorning but have since lessened their pace. May feeders are up $0.45 at $117.55, September feeders are up $0.97 at $129.12 and October live cattle are up $0.85 at $129.87. The warm weather, higher futures complex and spring grass coming make for a grass buyer's dream. LEAN HOGS Lean hog contracts shoot higher Friday morning with the biggest advancements seen in nearby contracts though deferred are still rallying in a modest tone. June lean hogs are up $3.60 at $62.55, July lean hogs are up $2.80 at $63.30 and August lean hogs are up $1.37 at $64.17. Tyson announced Friday morning that they plan to resume operations at the Logansport, Indiana, plant next week. At full capacity the plant can process 15,400 head, and although the plant won't be at full capacity next week, any amount of progress is helpful at this point. South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem also shared that she hopes to have the Smithfield plant in Sioux Falls open in a matter of days. The projected lean hog index for 4/30/2020 is up $2.57 at $57.27 and the actual index for 4/29/2020 was up $2.45 at $54.70. Hog prices aren't available on the National Direct Morning Hog Report again due to confidentiality. Pork cutouts total 223.25 loads with 199.99 loads of pork cuts and 23.26 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $4.90, $105.62. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2020 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.