DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/26 11:48

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 01/26 11:48 Demand Keeps Livestock Contracts Running Higher All three livestock markets are trading higher as Friday's noon hour nears. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: As the market nears Friday's noon hour, the livestock contracts continue to trade higher as demand continues to be a supportive factor. No new cash cattle trade has been reported at this point and it's likely the week's business is essentially done. March corn is down 6 cents per bushel and March soybean meal is down $6.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 105.65 points. LIVE CATTLE Packers may have kept a lid on the cash cattle market by managing supplies through January, but consequences of the storms throughout most of January have been significant for the fed cattle in feedyards across the country. As cattle continue to sit in pens filled with mud, feed conversions aren't faring well and packers may end up paying more money for cattle in the weeks ahead. The simple fact is packers buy by the head and sell by the pound -- and in conditions like these, it's easy for cattle to lose anywhere from 60 to 100 pounds until pen conditions improve. Traders are aware of this scenario, which is partly why the market is seeing such tremendous support. February live cattle are up $0.97 at $178.70, April live cattle are up $1.02 at $181.77 and June live cattle are up $1.52 at $179.12. There hasn't been any more cash cattle trade reported at this point, but some late clean-up sales could still develop. Thus far throughout the week, Southern live cattle have sold for $174 to mostly $175, which is $2 higher than last week's weighted average. Northern dressed cattle sold at mostly $277 which is $3.00 higher than last week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are higher: Choice up $1.87 ($300.55) and select up $1.29 ($289.14) with a movement of 55 loads (37.71 loads of choice, 8.70 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 8.29 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE The feeder cattle complex hasn't had a change of heart as the corn complex's $0.04 to $0.05 regression amid a relentless run in the live cattle contracts all bodes well for feeders. March feeders are up $2.75 at $240.95, April feeders are up $2.47 at $246.35 and May feeders are up $2.25 at $251.50. It's likely that traders will continue to support the feeder cattle through Friday's end and consequently drive the spot March contract back above the market's 100-day moving average. LEAN HOGS The lean hog complex isn't being left in the dust today as the nearby contracts continue to support higher prices while some of the deferred contracts are trading slightly lower. February lean hogs are up $0.75 at $75.05, April lean hogs are up $0.87 at $83.45 and June lean hogs are up $0.80 at $96.07. The cash hog market has seen so little interest from packers thus far today that prices can't even be published because of confidentiality issues. It is supportive, however, that midday pork cutout values are higher with the largest gains being seen in ham at this point. Hog prices are unavailable in the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality. However, we can see that only 571 head have traded and the five-day rolling average now sits at $49.43. Pork cutouts total 153.43 loads with 141.97 loads of pork cuts and 11.46 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: Up $2.84, $91.75. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.