DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/19 11:34

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/19 11:34 Northern Cattle Reported $2.00 Higher A light trade of cattle has been reported in Nebraska at $282, which is $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The live cattle complex is trading higher as traders are pleased to see cash cattle trading higher in the North. Heading into Friday afternoon, the market's focus will be on the Cattle on Feed Report. July corn is up 8 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 123.42 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex is the only livestock market trading higher into Friday's noon hour as traders celebrate the onset of slightly higher prices in the North. A light trade has been reported Friday morning in parts of Nebraska at $282, which is $2.00 higher than both last week's weighted average and $2.00 higher than the trade that developed on Thursday. Count your victory feedlots -- waiting the week out paid dividends yet again! Throughout the week, most Northern deals have been marked at $176 to $178 which is steady to $2.00 higher than last week's weighted average. And Southern live cattle have sold at mostly $170 which is fully steady with last week's business. June live cattle are down $0.27 at $165.25, August live cattle are up $0.12 at $163.75 and October live cattle are up $0.27 at $168.02. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $2.88 ($301.19) and select down $0.94 ($282.67) with a movement of 68 loads (48.13 loads of choice, 7.77 loads of select, 5.84 loads of trim and 6.06 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: With corn prices trending $0.06 to $0.10 higher, the feeder cattle complex is timidly approaching Friday's noon hour as traders react negatively to the mild bounce back of corn. One would think that the onset of slightly higher cash prices would help feeders trade at least steady, but as the market begins to hold its breath ahead of Friday's Cattle on Feed report, traders are naturally more cautious. August feeders are down $0.55 at $233.95, September feeders are down $0.55 at $236.67 and October feeders are down $0.50 at $238.27. LEAN HOGS: Strangely enough, the lean hog complex is now trading lower even as cash prices see higher prices yet and as pork cutout values trade higher. Friday's lower trend comes as a two-pronged bad news flash as not only are prices lower throughout the futures complex, but prices are currently breaking below support levels. June lean hogs are down $1.45 at $83.85, July lean hogs are down $1.80 at $83.80 and August lean hogs are down $1.90 at $82.00. Some of the hog market's pressure may be the onset of higher corn prices. The projected lean hog index for May 18 is up $0.71 at $79.13, and the actual index for May 17 is up $0.62 at $78.42. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $1.40 with a weighted average of $79.52, ranging from $74.00 to $90.00 on 4,732 head and a five-day rolling average of $78.40. Pork cutouts total 102.03 loads with 90.19 loads of pork cuts and 11.85 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.01, $85.74. ** 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.