Commentary
May 2013: Did you know…
Encouraging news relative to cattle supply came from the Professional Cattle Consultants (PCC) newsletters in April. Shawn Walter reported March feedlot placements were up 7.7% and speculated that April placements might be up as well.
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Boxed beef leads the way
Choice boxed beef reached record levels above $200/cwt. last week, with fed cattle prices not far behind. The late spring rally comes after boxed beef and fed markets appeared to have topped in March. Extended cold weather, abundant supplies of competing meats, high gas prices and increased payroll taxes have all played a part in limiting beef demand this spring. Several of those factors have now changed somewhat.
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Schwieterman: Live cattle futures end week with a selloff
Live cattle futures imploded on Friday, closing below the 40 day moving average in most all of the contracts. The end of the week selloff came in the face of sharply higher cutout values for the week and better cash trade in all regions.
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Cattle Outlook: Choice boxed beef tops $200
Fed cattle prices were higher this week on heavy volume. Through Thursday, the 5-area average price for slaughter steers sold on a live weight basis was $129.02/cwt, up $1.77 from last week and up $8.86/cwt from the same week last year.
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Feeder cattle review: Feeders move higher with less volatility
Compared to last week’s closing market, feeder cattle sold steady to 2.00 higher with much less volatility than in recent weeks.
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Schwieterman: Cattle futures post solid gains, corn market strong
Feeder cattle futures posted solid gains on Thursday in spite of strength in the corn market. Buying has continued in overnight feeder trade, with the lead May contract back testing the highs for the week.
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Schwieterman: Packers motivated by record high beef prices
Live cattle futures recovered most of Tuesday’s losses to close moderately higher on Wednesday. Support from new record high choice beef prices prompted packers to pay fully steady money in the south at midweek, with feedlots willing to accept due to their strong basis advantage.
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Schwieterman: Cash bids start early, corn weaker overnight
Feeder cattle futures were unable to take advantage of a weak close in the corn market on Tuesday. Continued weakness in corn overnight has been enough to lift the feeders to modest gains in early morning activity.
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Schwieterman: Limit higher corn forces feeder futures lower
Feeder cattle futures felt the weight of limit higher corn on Monday, posting triple digit losses across the board.
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Feeder cattle review: Spring weather fuels cash and feeder demand
Volatility is the only rule that feeder markets abide lately with demand rarely driven by sound fundamentals, just as this past week’s weekly session totally ignored last Friday’s bearish placement figures on the cattle-on-feed report.
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Schwieterman: Upward surge continues for cattle futures
Live cattle futures posted strong gains on Thursday, with the lead months closing above their respective 40 day moving averages.
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- Senate committee to consider ag workers, E-verify next week
- Domestic ethanol production starts to grow again
- Ag markets diverged significantly Friday afternoon
- The relationship between retail gasoline prices and futures prices
- New school lunch beef recipes win approval from kids, foodservice
- Insects. They’re what’s for dinner!
