DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/22 13:11

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 11/22 13:11 Strong Tones Keep Livestock Contracts Elevated Into Noon With the livestock contracts trading higher, the cash cattle market is hopeful of higher trade again this week. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex took time to warm up, but as Tuesday's noon hour nears, all three of the livestock contracts are trading mostly higher into Tuesday's afternoon. The cash cattle market is seeing some light interest develop in Nebraska, but otherwise packers haven't shown the market much attention at this point. December corn is steady and December soybean meal is steady. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 274.25 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle complex opened mostly steady with Monday's close, but as the market has had more time to trade, traders are again advancing the contracts as nearly all the live cattle contracts are trading higher into Tuesday's afternoon. There's a widespread consensus that cash cattle prices will be higher again this week as packers are pressured to continue to support the cash market as front-end supplies of cattle are thin and will only become thinner in the weeks ahead. There are a few bids being offered in Nebraska, ranging from $242 to $245, but at this point feedlots have yet to jump on any of the offers. Asking prices in the South are noted at $154 to $155, but no bids have been noted in the South at this point. December live cattle are up $0.25 at $153.82, February live cattle are down $0.05 at $156.67 and April live cattle are up $0.02 at $160.15. The cash cattle market could see some trade develop Tuesday afternoon, but with feedlots again aiming for higher prices, it's more likely that trade waits to develop until Wednesday. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.96 ($257.53) and select up $1.84 ($235.07) with a movement of 85 loads (57.37 loads of choice, 9.13 loads of select, 5.57 loads of trim and 12.85 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex is trading mixed into Tuesday's afternoon as the market keeps a close eye on the corn complex and hopes that its recent regression will allow for the feeder cattle market to trade higher Tuesday afternoon. It was reassuring to see the feeder cattle complex open steady with Monday's close as traders could have easily jumped ship and opted to fill in the gap that Monday's higher start created. However, feeder cattle demand remains relatively strong and corn prices hold somewhat steady, and feeders are hopeful that there may be a chance to trade higher this afternoon as the market hasn't lost sight of last Friday's bullish Cattle on Feed report and as most of the live cattle contracts are trading higher into Tuesday's afternoon. January feeders are down $0.57 at $182.05, March feeders are down $0.30 at $184.80 and April feeders are up $0.02 at $188.07. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex is keeping with Monday's mildly higher theme as the market chops sideways. Packers are again pushing the day's midday cash prices higher as they look to procure their needs in the cash market early in the week as they'll likely be absent from the market on Friday. It will be interesting to see how pork cutout values close this afternoon as prices have been under pressure, but some early Christmas buying could spark slightly higher tones, and hopefully large volumes of product sold. December lean hogs are up $0.80 at $84.60, February lean hogs are up $0.52 at $90.67 and April lean hogs are up $0.42 at $95.90. The projected lean hog index for Nov. 21 is down $0.43 at $86.54, and the actual index for Nov. 18 is down $0.80 at $86.97. Hog prices are higher on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.31 with a weighted average of $82.06, ranging from $81.00 to $87.50 on 3,911 head and a five-day rolling average of $83.09. Pork cutouts total 149.53 loads with 130.91 loads of pork cuts and 18.62 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $1.72, $93.71. ShayLe Stewart can be reached at [email protected] ** Cattlemen are eager for supply and demand mechanics to swing their way, but the market isn't completely free of hurdles as bearish concerns about the U.S. and global economies loom. Hear DTN Livestock Analyst ShayLe Stewart's thoughts on the 2023 cattle market at the all-virtual DTN Ag Summit on Dec. 12-13. Full details available at http://www.dtn.com/agsummit (c) Copyright 2022 DTN, LLC. All rights reserved.