DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/23 11:24

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 05/23 11:24 Corn Keeps Feeders Depressed and Live Cattle Remain Mixed The livestock complex is again trading mixed as traders long for fundamental support to help boost the market's morale technically. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex has traded in a rather uneventful manner Tuesday morning, as economic concerns keep all markets on edge while they also monitor developments in the corn complex. No cash cattle trade has developed at this point and trade won't likely begin until Wednesday or Thursday of this week. July corn is up 6 1/4 cents per bushel and July soybean meal is down $3.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.71 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex seems rather content with letting time pass by as traders patiently wait to see what this week's cash cattle market will amount to. Once again, the market's nearby contracts are trading lower while the deferred months post mild gains, but more than anything, traders are kicked back, letting time tick by as they wait to see what develops in the cash sectors later this week. June live cattle are down $0.25 at $164.80, August live cattle are down $0.42 at $163.17 and October live cattle are down $0.42 at $167.70. No bids or asking prices are available at this time, and packer interest won't likely develop until Wednesday, or potentially even Thursday. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.18 ($304.08) and select down $1.52 ($281.91) with a movement of 58 loads (29.02 loads of choice, 14.38 loads of select, 7.55 loads of trim and 6.65 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: With the nearby live cattle contracts not lending the feeder cattle market any support, and with corn prices trending mildly higher, feeders are once again trading lower. August feeders are down $0.95 at $233.95, September feeders are down $0.70 at $237.15 and October feeders are down $0.47 at $239.05. Regardless of whether one likes to admit it or not, the feeder cattle market is, to some extent, a weather market right now. The more moisture the countryside can develop the better in ranchers' minds. Demand continues to be robust as buyers want to capitalize on this strong market while the opportunity lasts, and I was amazed as, just Monday afternoon, the CME Feeder Cattle Index closed $2.34 higher at $204.70. Demand isn't a concern in feeders right now. LEAN HOGS: It almost seems as if someone called out "bombs away" before Tuesday's market opened as the lean hog complex continues to wander aimlessly to new lows. The market's pressure is somewhat to blame on higher corn prices mixed with external economic pressures as the government continues to talk about what they're going to do with the nation's debt ceiling. In the meantime, traders don't seem overly concerned about whatever develops fundamentally, as the technical pressures are enough to continue to send the contracts lower. June lean hogs are down $1.25 at $80.57, July lean hogs are down $1.62 at $80.52 and August lean hogs are down $0.92 at $79.40. The projected lean hog index for May 22 is up $0.52 at $80.09, and the actual index for May 19 is up $0.44 at $79.57. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.59 with a weighted average of $76.01, ranging from $74.00 to $89.00 on 4,137 head and a five-day rolling average of $78.33. Pork cutouts total 164.29 loads with 150.84 loads of pork cuts and 13.45 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.14, $84.91. ** 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 midnight May 22 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.