CattleLink Market View

Live cattle: All in all, last week’s market was once again a bullish environment for the live cattle complex. Traders ran the contracts higher late in the week, and although the cash market’s trade was extremely thin, prices were higher. A few deals were marked in Kansas at $249, which is $3 higher than the previous week’s weighted average, and at $246 in Texas, which is $1 higher than the previous week’s weighted average. Northern dressed cattle traded for $385 to $389, which is steady to $4 higher than the previous week’s weighted average. 

Feeder cattle: Fueled by extremely strong buyer demand in the countryside and by strong technical support from traders, the feeder cattle complex was more bullish last week than the live cattle complex was thanks to turn-out season being right around the corner and order buyers needing to fill their loads.

Lean hogs: Last week was another challenging week for the lean hog complex. The market can’t seem to gain its footing from a technical sense, and although consumers were a bit more aggressive late in the week, traders continued to push the contracts lower.

Corn: May corn finished down 11 1/4 cents last week and closed down another 3/4 of a cent Monday, pressured by the ceasefire and growing world corn supplies. 

Soymeal: May soymeal futures rose $14.20 per ton last week and slipped $0.10 Monday in quiet and two-sided trade.