DTN Midday Livestock Comments 08/19 11:44

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 08/19 11:44 Lean Hogs Trade Higher, While Cattle Remain Reserved The live cattle complex is mixed as traders aren't comfortable trading the cattle contracts higher, but the lean hog complex is seeing ample support heading into Monday's noon hour. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is off to a mixed start for the week as the lean hog complex is trading slightly higher but the cattle complex remains hesitant. It's likely choppy sideways trade will be the theme again this week for the live cattle and feeder cattle contracts as traders try to gain some footing in the futures. December corn is up 6 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is up $6.10. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 197.54 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex is trying to trade higher, but traders aren't completely on board with the idea at this point. August live cattle are down $0.35 at $182.45, October live cattle are up $0.25 at $178.55 and December live cattle are down $).12 at $178.00. It's too early in the week to know what the cash cattle market is going to do, but with packers able to get cattle bought cheaper again last week, it's likely that market could trade lower again this week as well -- especially if boxed beef prices trade steady/somewhat lower. Last week Northern dressed cattle sold for mostly $298, which is $6.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average, but live sales in the North were marked at mostly $190, which is $2.00 to $3.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Southern live cattle were traded at mostly $185, which is $1.00 to $2.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are lower: choice down $0.70 ($316.75) and select down $0.78 ($301.81) with a movement of 71 loads (50.69 loads of choice, 12.17 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 8.32 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Even though some of the live cattle contracts may be trading higher, the feeder cattle complex is continuing to trade lower as the market needs more reassurance before it will comfortably trade higher. August feeders are down $0.50 at $242.27, September feeders are down $0.60 at $238.90 and October feeders are down $0.45 at $235.50. It will be especially interesting to see how feeder cattle sales end up this week as both Northern Livestock Video Auction and Superior Livestock Auction host big video sales this week. All in all, feeder cattle demand has remained strong even though the futures complex has endured some recent external pressure. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is back to trading slightly higher as the market is gradually gearing up for the week ahead. Initially, the market opened lower at Monday's start but with pork cutout values higher at noon, the complex is again trading higher. October lean hogs are up $1.27 at $76.35, December lean hogs are up $0.97 at $68.20 and February lean hogs are up $0.87 at $71.85. The market is currently trading at the upper end of its current trading range, which will mean that fundamental support will be necessary to push the complex any higher. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 8/16/2024 is down $0.14 at $89.95, and the actual index for 8/15/2024 is down $0.11 at $90.09. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality issues. However, we can see that only 276 head have traded and t the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $83.82. Pork cutouts totaled 179.98 loads with 162.08 loads of pork cuts and 17.90 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.25, $98.92. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.