DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/07 11:56

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 10/07 11:56 Cattle Trade Mixed While Hogs Push Higher at Monday's Start With both boxed beef prices and pork cutout values higher at Monday's start, most of the livestock contracts are trading higher. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is trading mostly higher although some of the nearby cattle contracts are trading slightly lower. If traders are going to continue to support the livestock complex as confidently as they did last week, they're going to need to see strong fundamental support in order to sustain these levels. December corn is up 1 3/4 cents per bushel and December soybean meal is down $5.80. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 246.01 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex is trading mostly higher, although some of the nearby contracts are trading slightly lower as traders hope to find stable fundamental support in this week's market. October live cattle are up $0.32 at $187.32, December live cattle are down $0.17 at $186.82 and February live cattle are up $0.02 at $187.97. After traders ran the complex to its highest price point seen since late July, they now need fundamental reassurance that the move was merited. Thankfully boxed beef prices are strong at the start of the week, which should lend some support, but throughout the week traders will continue to monitor beef demand and any developments in the cash market. No bids or asking prices are noted at the time and trade won't likely develop until after Wednesday at some time. Last week Southern live cattle traded for $186 which is $1.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average, and Northern dressed cattle traded at $296 which is $2.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Last week's negotiated cash cattle trade totaled 59,356 head. Of that, 82% (48,748 head) were committed to the nearby delivery, while the remaining 18% (10,608 head) were committed to the deferred delivery option. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $2.79 ($305.37) and select up $2.72 ($290.33) with a movement of 58 loads (32.64 loads of choice, 9.56 loads of select, 4.12 loads of trim and 11.46 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex is also trading mixed as traders note the slight regression in some of the nearby live cattle contracts, but all in all, most of the contracts are trading higher especially the spring and summer 2025 contracts as supplies of feeder cattle will likely be thin during that time. October feeders are down $0.42 at $249.20, November feeders are down $0.10 at $249.17 and January feeders are up $0.57 at $245.02. Last week the CME feeder cattle index rounded out the week at $246.78 -- indicating that buyer demand remains strong and hopefully will again this week. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is trading confidently into Monday's noon hour as the market is noting the stronger demand in pork cutout values early in the week. October lean hogs are down $0.07 at $83.90, December lean hogs are up $0.92 at $77.07 and February lean hogs are up $0.90 at $80.72. But in order for traders to move the complex any higher given that the market is trading at current resistance levels, they'll need to see stable consumer demand and interest. The projected lean hog index for 10/4/2024 is down $0.57 at $84.26, and the actual index for 10/3/2024 is down $0.07 at $84.83. Hog prices are unavailable on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report due to confidentiality issues. However, we can see that only 136 head have traded and that the market's five-day rolling average now sits at $77.32. Pork cutouts total 205.84 loads with 166.51 loads of pork cuts and 39.33 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $2.17, $96.48. ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com (c) Copyright 2024 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.