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DTN Midday Livestock Comments 03/27 11:45
Lean Hog Complex Dips Lower Waiting for the Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report
The livestock complex is trading mixed as the live cattle contracts are
trading mildly higher, but the lean hog and feeder cattle contracts are trading
lower. A single bid of $213 is currently being offered in Nebraska, but
otherwise, the cash cattle market is still silent. May corn is down 1 3/4 cents
per bushel and May soybean meal is up $0.90. The Dow Jones Industrial Average
is down 57.77 points.
ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst
GENERAL COMMENTS:
Thursday's export report shared that beef net sales of 8,000 mt for 2025
were down 22% from the previous week and 43% from the prior 4-week average. The
three largest buyers were South Korea (3,300 mt), Japan (1,800 mt) and Mexico
(1,200 mt). Pork net sales of 31,900 mt for 2025 were up 77% from the previous
week and up 13% from the prior 4-week average. The three largest buyers were
Mexico (14,400 mt), Colombia (3,700 mt) and Canada (3,300 mt).
LIVE CATTLE:
The live cattle complex is back to trading slightly higher as the contracts
are no longer up against immediate pressure of hitting resistance points, and
given the fact that traders remain hopeful that cash cattle prices will trade
steady to somewhat higher again this week. April live cattle are up $0.67 at
$207.67, June live cattle are up $0.67 at $203.70 and August live cattle are up
$0.55 at $199.90. There's a bid currently on the table in Nebraska at $213, but
no trade has developed quite yet. Asking prices are firm in the South from $211
to $212 but are not yet established in the North. Given the strong prices boxed
beef prices have seen again this week, it's likely that feedlot managers will
be willing to hold out until the week's bitter end for at steady prices, but
ideally, they'd like to see higher prices.
Boxed beef prices are mixed: choice down $0.02 ($338.28) and select up $2.89
($319.42) with a movement of 77 loads (37.02 loads of choice, 9.36 loads of
select, 25.13 loads of trim and 5.38 loads of ground beef).
FEEDER CATTLE:
Even though the live cattle complex is trading mildly higher, the feeder
cattle contracts continue to trade slightly lower as traders want to see more
confidence from the live cattle contracts before they push the feeder cattle
contracts higher. Some of today's hesitancy could be stemming from the fact
that the spot April contract is still relatively near its resistance threshold,
which was established just last week. Nevertheless, the countryside continues
to see phenomenal demand from buyers as they know that summertime pastures will
be ready in no time. April feeders are steady at $285.90, May feeders are down
$0.70 at $284.47 and August feeders are down $0.15 at $288.65.
LEAN HOGS:
Even though this morning's export sales report was supportive, the lean hog
complex is braced ahead of this afternoon's Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report.
It's not helping matters either that pork cutout values are lower, which is
adding even more doggishness to the market's tone. April lean hogs are down
$0.82 at $86.72, June lean hogs are down $1.97 at $94.57 and July lean hogs are
down $1.92 at $95.40.
The projected lean hog index for 3/26/2025 is steady at $89.13, and the
actual index for 3/25/2025 is up $0.23 at $89.13. Hog prices are higher on the
Daily Direct Morning Hog Report, up $0.95 with a weighted average price of
$88.49, ranging from $86.00 to $92.00 on 3,061 head and a five-day rolling
average of $88.03. Pork cutouts total 156.55 loads with 129.63 loads of pork
cuts and 26.92 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $0.14, $95.51.
ShayLe Stewart can be reached shayle.stewart@dtn.com
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