Friday markets
The cattle complex traded higher ahead of the release of the Cattle on Feed report and with corn contracts trading lower.
The Cattle on Feed (COF) report released today shows the inventory is up 5 percent with 11.7 million head, the second-highest May 1 inventory since the series began in 1996. During April, placements in feedlots totaled 1.82 million head, 27 percent above 2020 and marketings of fed cattle during April totaled 1.94 million head, 33 percent above 2020.
The people at the Cattle Report remarked, “Parsing the COF report will allow for many diverse opinions and conflicting theories about the implications of numbers disclosed in the report. Obviously, placement and marketing information will be distorted when compared to last year during the peak of the virus outbreak and plant shutdowns. Equally complex will be assumptions for beef demand moving forward and the processors’ ability to serve that demand.”
June live cattle traded higher $1.07 to $117.67, and the August contract was up $1.05 to 120.92 on strong opening interest.
Cash trade was nonexistent today, with only 357 head sold, not enough for a market trend. On the formula side, 28,700 head averaging 845 lbs. sold for $192.66.
Projected slaughter for today is 119,000 and 78,000 head on Saturday. The estimated weekly slaughter is 669,000 head, well above last week’s 640,000. USDA actual slaughter and carcass weight data for the week ended May 8 showed steer carcass weights jumped 5 pounds from a week ago to 896 lbs.
Boxed beef was slightly higher, with the Choice cutout up 99 cents at $325.17 and the Select cutout higher 70 cents to $302.31 on 37 loads.
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service released a correction to the weekly export sales report for beef. There were only 34 metric tons (mt) of beef sold to the Netherlands rather than the 33,700 mt that were reported. The revised numbers published next week will show export sales of 56,900 mt, actual export sales for the week were 23,234 mt.
Feeder Cattle
Feeder cattle traded higher, with the May contract higher $1.47 to $137.33 and the August contract up $2.62 to $153.70. The CME Feeder Cattle Index closed up $1.40 to $135.20.
“Unfortunately, without strong advancements in the cash cattle market, the feeder cattle contracts are having to rely on a weaker corn complex to find opportunities to rally as the cash cattle market can’t seem to gain any momentum,” ShayLe Stewart, DTN livestock analyst wrote in the midday comments.
Corn traded lower, with the July contract down 5 cents to $6.59 a bushel and the September contract down 5 cents a bushel trading at $5.73.
Texas: Cattlemen’s Livestock Auction in Dalhart sold 1,387 head on Thursday. Compared to the previous auction, steer and heifer calves under 600 lbs. were not well tested, steers over 600 lbs. sold $1-2 higher; heifer calves were steady to $1 lower. Benchmark steers averaging 778 lbs. sold for $134.
Kansas: Pratt Livestock in Pratt sold 4,447 head on Thursday. Compared to the last auction, feeder steers 700-975 lbs. sold steady to $4 higher. Steers 400-700 lbs. sold $4-5 lower on light receipts. Feeder heifers 800-975 lbs. sold steady to $3 higher; heifers 700-800 lbs. sold steady; and heifers 375-700 lbs. sold $4-5 higher. Benchmark steers averaging 767 lbs. sold between $133-140.
South Dakota: Mitchell Livestock in Mitchell sold 3,508 head on Thursday. Compared to the previous auction, a higher undertone was noted on steers up to 900 lbs. Steers 900-1,000 lbs. sold $1-4 higher, a lower undertone was reported on steers over 1,000 lbs. Heifers 700-800 lbs. sold $2-6 higher, and 850-950 lbs. were unevenly steady. A large group of steers averaging 930 lbs. sold between $126.50-132.10. — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
