DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/31 13:18

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/31 13:18 Livestock Contracts Slowly Creep Into Tuesday's Market The livestock contracts have had a hard time jumping into Tuesday's market following the long weekend. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Tuesday's morning has served as a slow and mostly lower start for the livestock complex. Both the lean hog and live cattle contracts are trading lower, but the corn market's weakness has propelled the feeder cattle contracts to higher. July corn is down 22 1/2 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $16.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 120.49 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle market isn't doing much of anything yet for the week, as feedlots tally their showlists and packers try to gauge their need for the weeks ahead. The nearby contracts are drifting modestly lower while the deferred months see mild support carry their contracts higher. The cash cattle market is expected to see mild to weak demand again this week as packers continue to manage their supplies strategically. As the calendar flips to June, watching processing speeds will become even more important as June can make or break the summer's tone as lousy throughout can mean substantially lower prices in July/August. June live cattle are down $0.52 at $131.65, August live cattle are down $0.87 at $131.47 and October live cattle are down $0.77 at $137.27. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $3.10 ($268.51) and select up $1.12 ($247.62) with a movement of 51 loads (28.31 loads of choice, 14.50 loads of select, 5.67 loads of trim and 3.01 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: As the corn complex falls $0.18 to $0.23 lower in its nearby contracts, the feeder cattle market wastes no time jumping modestly higher after the long weekend. Over the weekend, parts of Montana and Wyoming were soaked with rain, which some are calling the "million-dollar shower" as cattlemen in the West are grateful for any moisture that falls as it could help them recover from the severe drought that's plagued the region. August feeders are up $0.82 at $167.15, September feeders are up $0.72 at $170.02 and October feeders are up $0.67 at $172.50. Last week, the feeder cattle market saw excellent demand throughout the countryside as buyers are now able to buy grass calves and kick them straight onto grass. With the board being supportive, corn weaker and moisture in the air -- it wouldn't be surprising to see sales strong again early this week. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex hasn't jumped into the new week with any support, as the contracts fall $2.00 to $3.00 lower in the nearby months. June lean hogs are down $2.10 at $108.30, July lean hogs are down $3.32 at $108.40 and August lean hogs are down $3.45 at $107.00. The price break could be stemming from packers' concern of consumer interest following the three-day weekend. Nevertheless, how packers chase the cash hog market this afternoon and how pork cutout values close by the day's end will greatly influence how prices perform come Tuesday. There are lower chart gaps in both the June and July contracts, but that would mean that the market would have to fall substantially lower in order to fill them in this move. The projected lean hog index is unavailable at this time. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.55 with a weighted average of $109.09, ranging from $104.00 to $112.00 on 3,255 head and a five-day rolling average of $110.75. Pork cutouts total 170.45 loads with 150.32 loads of pork cuts and 20.12 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.52, $109.68. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2022 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.