DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/12 11:43

DTN Midday Livestock Comments 12/12 11:43 Live Cattle Higher With Hopes of Stronger Cash Trade The livestock complex is trading mixed into Monday's afternoon as the live cattle sector is gunning for higher cash trade again this week, but the feeder cattle and lean hog contracts are concerned about higher grain prices and demand. ShayLe Stewart DTN Livestock Analyst GENERAL COMMENTS: The livestock complex is off to a mixed start as the live cattle complex is trading higher in its nearby contracts with the hope that cash cattle will trade higher. The feeder cattle complex is trading lower with the onset of higher corn prices, and the lean hog market is too trading lower as demand is questionable. March corn is up 9 3/4 cents per bushel and January soybean meal is down $19.50. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 279.91 points. LIVE CATTLE: The live cattle contracts are trading mixed into Monday's noon hour as the nearby contracts are still rallying on last Friday's extremely strong close, which advanced the market above its 40-day moving average, while the deferred contracts are trading with a more cautious approach as grain prices now trading higher. Helping the nearby contracts trade higher too is the fact that front-end supplies of fed cattle are extremely thin, and with the North expecting a cold-moisture front to pass through much of Montana, Wyoming, North and South Dakota and Nebraska. Feedlots are eager to price cattle higher again this week as packers continue to be short bought. December live cattle are up $0.72 at $154.40, February live cattle are up $0.50 at $156.005 and April live cattle are up $0.40 at $159.75. It was interesting to see that last week's negotiated cash cattle market only traded 59,222 head with 90% of the cattle being committed to the nearby delivery. This indicates that packers are extremely short bought and will likely need to support the cash sector again this week. Last week in Iowa and Nebraska, trade took place on mostly Wednesday and Thursday, with a little bit of clean up trade on Friday. The bulk of Texas deals traded on Thursday and Friday, while Kansas held off trading until Friday. Southern live cattle traded from $153 to $155, but mostly at $154 to $155 in Texas, which is $1.00 lower to steady than the previous week's business. Kansas traded at mostly $155 to $156, which is steady to $1.00 higher than the previous week's weighted average. Northern dressed trade ranged from $243 to $247, but mostly at $247, which is roughly $2.00 lower than the previous week's weighted average. Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $5.76 ($254.69) and select up $3.53 ($224.79) with a movement of 54 loads (19.10 loads of choice, 4.35 loads of select, 19.45 loads of trim and 11.06 loads of ground beef). FEEDER CATTLE: The feeder cattle complex has retreated throughout Monday's start as the market cautiously notes the $0.07 to $0.09 advancement in the corn complex ahead of the day's noon hour. With Russia sending drones over the week to incapacitate the Odessa port, there's concerns about Ukraine grain shipments, which consequently drives the price of U.S. grains higher. It is positive for the feeder cattle complex to see the live cattle contracts trading higher, but more than anything the market longs for cash cattle to trade higher again this week. January feeders are down $0.37 at $183.55, March feeders are down $0.37 at $184.72 and April feeders are down $0.32 at $188.27. LEAN HOGS: The lean hog complex continues to be a volatile market to monitor as prices have continued to deteriorate early this week. With pork prices crating in China, there's concern about what pork demand will be not only from an export sense, but also here domestically as consumers have been quiet at the meat counter. February lean hogs are down $0.87 at $83.12, April lean hogs are down $1.00 at $90.07 and June lean hogs are down $0.87 at $103.82. Some last-minute buying could come from retailers as they quickly try to restock inventory before the Christmas holiday, but all in all most have already made those purchases. The projected lean hog index is delayed from the source. Hog prices are lower on the Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.73 with a weighted average of $81.78, ranging from $80.00 to $84.75 on 3,810 head and a five-day rolling average of $83.56. Pork cutout total 215.16 loads with 170.40 loads of pork cuts and 44.77 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.69, $86.87. ShayLe Stewart can be reached [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.