DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/17 11:34

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/17 11:34 Pressure Builds in Livestock Complex Wednesday The livestock complex is seeing little support as Wednesday's noon hour nears. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: It's a dreary day for the livestock complex as mostly the contracts are trading lower into Wednesday's noon hour and the market's fundamentals haven't lent much support to help curb the pressure of the market's weaking technical positions. Cash cattle bids are on the table in both regions, but no cattle have traded yet. July corn is down 25 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is up $0.30. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 207.79 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex has struggled with the pressuring nature of the futures complex throughout Wednesday, but some minor support is seeming to creep into the market's nearby contracts as the noon hour approaches. June live cattle are up $0.32 at $164.20, August live cattle are up $0.02 at $162.50 and October live cattle are down $0.22 at $166.70. Partly helping the nearby futures contracts trade higher could be the fact that feedlots seem committed to keeping the cash market as close to steady as possible. Yes, bids are on the table and they're significantly lower than feedlots' asking prices, but no cattle have sold yet, which remains a positive sign. Bids of $175 live and $280 dressed are currently being offered in Nebraska and bids of $167 live are being offered in Texas. Asking prices in the South are noted at $172-plus and in the North at $282-plus. At this point, it's anyone's gamble as to what will develop Wednesday afternoon. On one hand, feedlots could remain strong and hold out for potentially better prices come Thursday, or there's the possibility that feedlots will become anxious and sell cattle later Wednesday afternoon. I tend to believe that feedlots (Northern feedlots especially) will wait to trade cattle until Thursday as they know packers need the cattle and want to keep the market from eroding any more. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.64 ($300.11) and select down $0.17 ($284.18) with a movement of 65 loads (48.47 loads of choice, 10.53 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 6.22 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: On any normal day, one would expect the feeder cattle contracts to be rallying like gangbusters as the corn complex is trading $0.09 to $0.25 lower into the day's noon hour, but as a gloomy, unsupportive presence overcomes the livestock complex, feeders are trading lower despite what logic would argue for. August feeders are down $0.15 at $231.32, September feeders are down $0.15 at $234.17 and October feeders are down $0.30 at $235.92. At this point, anything could happen Wednesday afternoon as traders thoroughly understand the opportunities in Wednesday's market given that corn prices are trading significantly lower and demand has been commendable in the countryside, but then again, the technical pressure cannot be overlooked. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is struggling with the same uncooperative nature of the futures complex that the cattle contracts are. June lean hogs are down $1.87 at $85.42, July lean hogs are down $2.30 at $85.82 and August lean hogs are down $2.62 at $85.25. Noting the day's midday cash prices nearly shook the coffee right out of my hand, and it's obvious that some packers are short bought as there are very few days when one sees a $7.41 jump in cash hog prices. Given how drastically prices have jumped Wednesday, it's unlikely that the day's volume will be as vast as Tuesday's, as packers are going to buy enough hogs to cover their absolute needs. The projected lean hog index for May 16 is up $0.63 at $77.80 and the actual index for May 15 is up $0.67 at $77.17. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $7.41 with a weighted average of $80.42, ranging from $72.00 to $88.50 on 6,966 head and a five-day rolling average of $76.92. Pork cutouts total 181.54 loads with 154.86 loads of pork cuts and 26.68 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.08, $82.67. ** Register today for the upcoming DTN Ag Summit Series event, "Crop Updates From the Field." We will visit with farmers from across the country, talk about the latest dicamba and pesticide news and discuss DTN's latest weather and market outlooks. The program begins Tuesday, May 23, at 8:30 a.m. CDT. We understand if you're too busy to attend live. It will be available for replay; however, you must register before the May 22 deadline to gain access. Registration is free, and you can find more details here: https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dtn.com%2Fa gsummit&data=05%7C01%7CShayLe.Stewart%40dtn.com%7C5c4602de75024a82bdcf08db56d14d b3%7Cd945da26f07f451496e79b8f78a743d0%7C0%7C0%7C638199229205864045%7CUnknown%7CT WFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C 3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=qMPLsERv3i8lisPyeuCODzcsrX%2BdNSgf0ZBXsAsEtj8%3D&reserved=0 ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2023 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.