DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/25 12:00

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/25 12:00 Livestock Contracts Continue to Find Trader Support Livestock futures, again, are fully supported into Wednesday afternoon trade and packers are starting to show interest in the cash cattle market. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: Traders continue to invest in all three livestock futures markets, sending them higher into Wednesday afternoon. Cash cattle trade is starting to develop at steady to $1.00 higher than last week, but at minimal levels and certainly not enough cattle have sold to say the week's trend is established. March corn is down 3 3/4 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $1.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 189.55 points and NASDAQ is up 28.28 points. LIVE CATTLE: For the most part, the live cattle market is trading mildly higher as traders eye the feeder cattle contracts more as we head into Wednesday afternoon trade. December live cattle are up $0.22 at $111.40, February live cattle are down $0.05 at $113.90 and April live cattle are up $0.05 at $117.20. Feeders are seeing more interest from packers as the day progresses and packers have upped their bids already Wednesday morning. There's been a light movement of cattle at steady to $1.00 higher than a week ago, but not enough trade has developed to call the week's trend established. If feedlots can stick together and push trade into Friday, more money could be found for this week's trade. Iowa sold some cattle for $110 and $172; Nebraska is seeing bids offered at $111 and $174; and Kansas has bids offered at $111. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $0.62 ($244.92) and select up $1.40 ($221.11) with a movement of 79 loads (50.97 loads of choice, 13.17 loads of select, 5.33 loads of trim and 9.42 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: Feeders are thankful to see another day of lower corn prices and continued follow-through support from traders leading to higher prices. January feeders are up $1.22 at $139.75, March feeders are up $0.82 at $138.95 and April feeders are up $0.72 at $140.07. It's a touch-and-go week for feeder cattle sales as some barns canceled their sales for the holiday, some barns are seeing phenomenal demand still, and some are noticing fewer buyers as many take the later part of the week off to spend time with family. Regardless, if the week can continue to add positioning to the marketplace and sees continued support from the board, next week's market could be sitting in a fine position to sell feeders strong once again. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog market again is seeing moderate support from traders who are willing to lightly invest in the hog complex without getting too bold and pushing the market out of its current sideways trend. December lean hogs are up $0.42 at $65.72, February lean hogs are up $0.57 at $67.32 and April lean hogs are up $0.32 at $70.55. Without there being strong demand from packers, and mixed signals coming from cutout values, the market will most likely continue to trade steady through the week. The projected lean hog index for 11/23/2020 is down $0.13 at $67.70 and the actual index for 11/20/2020 is down $0.31 at $67.83. Hog prices are lower on the National Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.41 with a weighted average of $57.48, ranging from $57.00 to $58.50 on 3,840 head and a five-day rolling average of $57.94. Pork cutouts total 178.31 loads with 153.92 loads of pork cuts and 24.39 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $0.56, $78.14. ShayLe Stewart can be reached [email protected] Editor's Note: See DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart's complete 2021 market outlook live by attending the DTN Ag Summit, Dec. 7-9. This year's event is virtual, and as a DTN subscriber you can attend for FREE. Our premier farmer and rancher event features markets updates from ShayLe, DTN Lead Analyst Todd Hultman and a weather outlook by Senior Ag Meteorologist Bryce Anderson. Other speakers include: U.S. Ambassador Kip Tom; Ken Eriksen and Paul Hughes of IHS Markit; Microsoft Chief Scientist Ranveer Chandra; personal development speakers David Horsager and Jon Gordon; farmers Reid and Heather Thompson; farm blogger Meredith Bernard, and many more. You can take part, and ask live questions, all from the comfort of your home, shop or tractor cab. Register at https://nam03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dtn.com%2Fa gsummit&data=04%7C01%7Cscott.kemper%40dtn.com%7Cac6bbb50e0fb4f3d7a1b08d88699dc5f %7Cd945da26f07f451496e79b8f78a743d0%7C0%7C0%7C637407342673172926%7CUnknown%7CTWF pbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C10 00&sdata=GNA2Ki89YXFtCVRYBszt7rkt9kURe5CGBuNLsNeKGrs%3D&reserved=0 and enter code DTNVIP20 to get free access (a $99 value). (c) Copyright 2020 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.