DTN Midday Livestock Comments 07/01 11:44

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 07/01 11:44 Traders Show Little Interest in Livestock Complex at Week's Start With this a holiday-shortened week, trader interest could be minimal in livestock markets as it's likely many are taking some time off for the 4th of July. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is trading mostly lower as Monday approaches noon, which could be a theme this week with it being a holiday-shortened week for the 4th of July. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas and Nebraska/Colorado, but lower in Texas. December corn is down 3 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 74.05 points. LIVE CATTLE: As traders assess the new week, they're hesitant to overly support the live cattle complex knowing it's a holiday-shortened week and cash cattle trade won't likely develop until Friday. August live cattle are down $1.05 at $184.37, October live cattle are down $0.90 at $183.97 and December live cattle are down $0.50 at $185.40. Thankfully, boxed beef prices are higher at the week's start, which continues to be one of the key driving factors in the market's current bull run. New showlists appear to be mixed, higher in Kansas and Nebraska/Colorado, but lower in Texas. Last week most of the market's trade waited to develop until Friday, where Northern dressed cattle traded for mostly $312, which is $1.00 higher than last week's weighted average, and Southern live cattle traded for mostly $190, which is about steady with the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 68,879 head. Of that, 72% (49,259 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 28% (19,620 head) were committed to the deferred delivery. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $3.56 ($329.88) and select up $2.36 ($306.86) with a movement of 43 loads (16.73 loads of choice, 5.72 loads of select, 9.44 loads of trim and 11.15 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: With the live cattle contracts trading lower, the feeder cattle contracts are also lower as traders know feeder cattle sales are going to be thin this week. August feeders are down $1.90 at $257.37, September feeders are down $1.80 at $257.85 and October feeders are down $2.02 at $257.02. It wouldn't be surprising to see the feeder cattle market trade sideways/somewhat lower this week until countryside interest picks up again next week after the 4th of July holiday. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is lower as traders are disappointed to see pork cutout values down again early this week. July lean hogs are up $0.22 at $89.80, August lean hogs are down $0.35 at $89.15 and October lean hogs are down $0.57 at $75.15. The market could see steady/somewhat lower trade through the 4th of July holiday as it's likely a vast majority of traders are taking some time off. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 6/28/2024 is down $0.30 at $89.17, and the actual index for 6/27/2024 is down $0.29 at $89.47. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report because of confidentiality. However, we can see that only 73 head of hogs have traded and that the week's five-day rolling average now sits at $88.47. Pork cutouts total 159.06 loads with 119.41 loads of pork cuts and 39.65 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.25, $97.64. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.