DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/25 11:48

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/25 11:48 Mixed Tones Dominate Livestock Complex Monday Both the live cattle and feeder cattle markets are mixed as traders continue to chew over last Friday's Cattle on Feed report. Lean hogs are trading higher. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is mixed as the cattle contracts trade hesitantly and the lean hog market charges onward. With packers able to buy 98,000 head last week, the cash market may not be able to trade higher this week. May corn is down 1 1/4 cents per bushel and May soybean meal is up $2.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 124.59 points. LIVE CATTLE: Between digesting what to do with last Friday's Cattle on Feed report and realizing packers were able to buy quite a few cattle with time last week -- traders have been slow to show the live cattle complex much interest. April live cattle are down $0.70 at $186.80, June live cattle are down $0.20 at $182.70 and August live cattle are down $0.47 at $181.02. It's likely traders will shake off the COF report by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest. But if the cash cattle market isn't able to trade at least steady this week, traders may grow concerned about the lack of cash support. New showlists appear to be mixed -- higher in Texas, but lower in Kansas and Nebraska/Colorado. Last week Northern dressed cattle averaged $302, which is $4.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average, and surpasses the previous high made June 9, 2023, at $299.51 in Nebraska and $298.65 in Iowa. And Southern live cattle also saw tremendous support as prices averaged $188, which is $2.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average which had just set a new record high for the Southern Plains as Texas averaged $187.96 and Kansas averaged $185.79. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 98,759 head. Of that 70% (69,000 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 30% (29,759 head) were committed to the deferred delivery. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.29 ($311.01) and select up $0.57 ($302.04) with a movement of 56 loads (31.11 loads of choice, 7.20 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 17.55 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex is trading mixed as the market is trying to gain its footing after last Friday's Cattle on Feed Report. We all knew the report was going to showcase greater placements than a year ago given the weather circumstances of this past January, but the report showed placements up 10%, which is significant. Thankfully, traders have kept a level head thus far through Monday's trade and they're currently letting the nearby contracts trade higher while some of the deferred months trade lower. April feeders are up $0.50 at $252.00, May feeders are up $0.42 at $254.20 and August feeders are down $0.50 at $264.05. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is trading higher as the market anxiously is running into the new week. April lean hogs are up $0.20 at $84.77, June lean hogs are up $1.60 at $101.30 and July lean hogs are up $1.62 at $103.70. It is helping that pork cutout values are higher at midday, but in order to consistently trade higher traders will need to see more stable consumer demand this week. As a side note, on Thursday the latest Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report will be released. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 3/22/2024 is down $0.12 at $83.48, and the actual index for 3/21/2024 is up $0.05 at $83.59. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality issues. We can however see that 1,220 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $80.61. Pork cutouts total 177.79 loads with 159.31 loads of pork cuts and 18.48 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.27, $95.65. ShayLe Stewart can be reached at shayle.stewart@dtn.com. (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.