DTN Midday Livestock Comments          12/03 11:47

   Livestock Contracts Trade Lackadaisically Through Friday 

   Heading into Friday afternoon, the livestock complex is trading quietly and 
will likely close without much excitement taking place between now and then. 

ShayLe Stewart
DTN Livestock Analyst

   GENERAL COMMENTS:

   It's been a fairly quiet day throughout the livestock complex as the market 
rallied aggressively on Thursday but seems to have used up all of its momentum 
by Friday's arrival. The cash cattle market has a bid offered in Nebraska at 
$140, but otherwise the market is quiet. March corn is up 4 3/4 cents per 
bushel and January soybean meal is up $7.70. The Dow Jones Industrial Average 
is down 241.68 points and NASDAQ is down 425.35 points.

   LIVE CATTLE:

   Live cattle futures seem to have run out of steam for the time being as the 
market trades mildly lower into Friday afternoon. Thankfully the contracts 
rallied when feedlots were needing support in pushing the cash market higher, 
so seeing Friday's trade trend somewhat lower isn't crushing to the complex as 
traders supported the market aggressively Thursday. December live cattle are 
down $0.25 at $137.40, February live cattle are down $0.62 at $138.95 and April 
live cattle are down $0.52 at $142.07. While there is a bid of $140 offered in 
Nebraska, it's looking like the bulk of this week's trade is done with as the 
cash cattle market sits fairly quiet. Asking prices left for cattle on 
showlists are around $143 in the South and $222-plus in the North.

   Boxed beef prices are higher: choice up $1.92 ($273.94) and select up $1.36 
($259.61) with a movement of 46 loads (24.89 loads of choice, 4.75 loads of 
select, 6.67 loads of trim and 9.39 loads of ground beef).

   FEEDER CATTLE:

   With live cattle futures dogging lower and corn prices posting a modest 
rally, the feeder cattle futures have packed their bags and are trailing lower 
into Friday afternoon. January feeders are down $1.57 at $164.20, March feeders 
are down $1.25 at $167.07 and April feeders are down $1.25 at $169.65. While 
support remains hard to come by on the board for the cattle market, demand in 
the countryside for both calves and feeders remains strong as buyers are still 
bullish about the upcoming 2022 market.

   LEAN HOGS:

   The hog complex isn't nearly as aggressive come Friday as the market was 
throughout Thursday's trade. But the oddball factor of the market continues to 
be the cash hog sector and packers' back-and-forth acquisition of hogs. For 
instance, following Thursday's lighter trade where only 4,420 head sold (and 
averaged $0.08 lower than the day before) come Friday packers are back to 
tallying their supplies and seeking more inventory as they've already bought 
6,100 head in Friday's market. Part of the whiplash nature of the current hog 
market is undoubtedly the ping-pong nature of the market's pork cutout values, 
and until holiday buying is done with the undecisive nature is likely to linger 
in the market. December lean hogs are down $0.07 at $74.32, February lean hogs 
are down $0.45 at $81.55 and April lean hogs are down $0.47 at $85.85.

   The projected CME Lean Hog Index for 12/1/2021 is up $0.59 at $70.86, and 
the actual index for 11/30/2021 s up $0.23 at $70.27. Hog prices are higher on 
the National Direct Morning Hog Report, up a sharp $2.91 with a weighted 
average of $58.42, ranging from $53.50 to $64.50 on 6,100 head and a five-day 
rolling average of $56.16. Pork cutouts total 198.47 loads with 176.42 loads of 
pork cuts and 22.04 loads of trim. Pork cutout values: down $1.84, $86.25.

   **

   In planning for the holiday season and what may come with the new year, make 
plans to attend the 2021 DTN Ag Summit, December 5-7, in Chicago! Visit 
http://www.dtn.com/agsummit for more details about the summit and to register.

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




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