DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/28 11:44

Cattle Contracts Trade Lower Waiting for Cash Sales to Develop

The big line item left to happen ahead of the week's end is the cash cattle
trade which should begin to develop at any time now.

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

GENERAL COMMENTS:

The livestock complex is trading mixed as the cattle contracts continue to
wait for the cash cattle market to trade. Traders are hopeful that the cash
market will trade higher but aren't comfortable trading the contracts higher
until they see for sure. May corn is up 1/4 cent per bushel and May soybean
meal is down $2.20. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 634.54 points.

LIVE CATTLE:

After carving out yet another new contract high just yesterday afternoon in
the spot June contract, the live cattle complex is twiddling its fingers,
holding the market merely steady as traders wait to see what's going to amount
in this week's cash market. April live cattle are down $0.55 at $209.00, June
live cattle are down $0.82 at $204.97 and August live cattle are down $0.82 at
$200.97. The cash cattle complex is still sitting idle, with no major sales
having been reported yet. A call was made to DTN of some cattle that traded in
Iowa for $222. If that's any indication of how the week's trend may go, that's
substantially higher than last week's weighted average. Asking prices are noted
in the South at $211 to $212 but are still not known in the North. Trade should
begin to break loose any minute.

Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $2.33 ($333.39) and select up $0.92
($320.36) with a movement of 88 loads (50.70 loads of choice, 5.88 loads of
select, 21.04 loads of trim and 10.85 loads of ground beef).

FEEDER CATTLE:

Once again following in the same suit as the live cattle complex, the feeder
cattle contracts are trading lower as traders anxiously wait to see what's
going to develop in this week's fed cash cattle market. April feeders are down
$1.25 at $286.30, May feeders are down $1.85 at $284.60 and August feeders are
down $1.50 at $289.15. Demand in the countryside remains incredible in terms of
buyers' willingness to bid calves and feeders higher and higher, so today's
hesitancy is solely technical.

LEAN HOGS:

After being able to fully absorb Thursday's supportive Quarterly Hogs and
Pigs Report, the lean hog complex is trading higher thanks to the USDA's
supportive report and thanks to the uptick in pork cutout prices this morning
as well. April lean hogs are up $0.02 at $87.05, June lean hogs are up $0.72 at
$96.92 and July lean hogs are up $0.92 at $97.70. The market will likely be
able to keep this bullish tone through the day's end given all the fundamental
support in which it's currently seeing.

The projected lean hog index for 3/27/2025 is down $0.35 at $88.78, and the
actual index for 3/26/2025 is steady at $89.13. Hog prices are lower on the
Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, down $0.58 with a weighted average price of
$87.91, ranging from $84.00 to $89.00 on 2,078 head and a five-day rolling
average of $87.95. Pork cutouts total 201.02 loads with 186.25 loads of pork
cuts and 14.77 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: up $3.91, $98.75.

ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com




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