DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/05 11:42

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 09/05 11:42 Livestock Complex Dips Lower Thursday Morning Cash cattle asking prices are noted at $185 in the South, but are still not established in the Northern Plains. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Thus far it's been a quiet and dismal day for the livestock complex as all three of the markets are trading lower into Thursday's noon hour. Still no substantial cash cattle trade has developed but packer interest will likely improve this afternoon. December corn is down 3 1/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 375.58 points. LIVE CATTLE: There are plenty of reasons why the live cattle complex could be trading lower Thursday morning as external pressure continues to loom over the commodity complex and as traders are growing tired of waiting for the cash cattle market to trade. October live cattle are down $2.02 at $177.17, December live cattle are down $2.22 at $176.65 and February live cattle are down $2.10 at $177.40. The cash cattle market is still sitting idle following the handful of cattle that were traded Wednesday afternoon in Kansas at $180, which is $3.00 lower than last week's weighted average. But there certainly weren't enough traded to say any sort of market trend has been established for the week. Feedlot managers are holding out, hoping as the week drags on that packers will be willing to offer up steady money with last week's business. As of right now, there are no bids on the table, but packer interest will likely increase Thursday afternoon. Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice up $0.73 ($312.33) and select down $1.81 ($297.58) with a movement of 71 loads (37.82 loads of choice, 23.26 loads of select, zero loads of trim and 9.66 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: With the live cattle complex trading lower, it didn't take traders long to decide the feeder cattle market's direction was going to be lower through Thursday's trade as well. But what continues to be frustrating about the way in which traders handle the feeder cattle complex is the degree in which they send the contracts lower when pressure builds. September feeders are down $2.35 at $237.27, October feeders are down $3.00 at $234.45 and November feeders are down $3.42 at $231.72. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex isn't shaking Thursday's pressure as it also is trading lower into the day's noon hour. But with both cash prices and pork cutout values lower at midday, and traders aware of the external pressure hovering over the commodity complex, there was virtually no chance the market would be able to overcome the day's pressure. October lean hogs are down $0.60 at $80.95, December lean hogs are down $0.82 at $71.87 and February lean hogs are down $0.75 at $75.02. The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 9/4/2024 is up $0.16 at $86.43, and the actual lean hog index for 9/3/2024 is up $0.12 at $86.27. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.93 with a weighted average price of $77.70, ranging from $74.00 to $82.00 on 1,884 head. Pork cutouts total 201.70 loads with 176.11 loads of pork cuts and 25.58 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.12, $95.17. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com ** If you're planning to attend Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island, Nebraska, be sure and check out the DTN building to learn more about our latest products and efforts. You'll also want to sit in on our weather and markets outlooks from Ag Meteorologist John Baranick and Lead Analyst Todd Hultman. The outlook sessions are at 10:00 a.m. CDT and 2 p.m. CDT on Sept. 10 and 11. On Sept. 12 we'll have a weather outlook at 10:00 a.m. Hultman will be covering the USDA WASDE report, which comes out at 11:00 a.m. CDT, and hosting a webinar discussion about the report at 12:30 p.m. To register for the free webinar, go to https://www.dtn.com/wasde-webinars/ (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.