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Lean hog, cattle futures turn lower on uncertain demand - CME

Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) livestock futures turned lower on Monday, as cattle futures fell on signs of profit taking, a steady cattle cash market and uncertainty about consumer demand for beef this fall, Reuters reported, citing market analysts.

CME feeder cattle futures saw some support early in the session when Chicago Board of Trade corn futures dropped sharply, traders said. But as corn futures recovered, concerns of rising feed costs at a time when packers' profit margins have been firmly in the red weighed on contracts, they said.

Wholesale beef prices were mixed Monday morning, with the US Department of Agriculture reporting that boxed beef cutout prices for choice was down 2 cents at $313.75 per hundredweight (cwt) and select cutout up $2.61 at $300.07 per cwt.

Hog futures eased, even though wholesale US pork prices were mostly higher early in the day. But pork cutout prices for ham turned sharply lower, according to USDA data, which added pressure to futures.

"The seasonal trends on hogs are all negative right now," said Don Roose, president of US Commodities. "The fall contracts are under pressure as pork supplies are growing with hog weights and the production pace being higher than a year ago."

Pork processors slaughtered 482,000 hogs on Monday, higher than the 453,000 head a week ago and above the 477,242 animals processed the same time a year earlier, according to USDA data.

CME August live cattle futures ended down 1.600 cents at 186.975 cents per pound, while most-active October live cattle futures  fell 1.750 cents at 186.800 cents per pound.

CME August feeders ended 3.275 cents lower at 256.425 cents per pound.

CME August lean hog futures ended 2.025 cents lower at 91.450 cents per pound, and in mid-session dipped to the lowest price since July 16. October lean hog futures  ended down 3.375 cents at 74.825 cents per pound.

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Trending Video

Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

Video: Making budget friendly pig feed on a small livestock farm

I am going to show you how we save our farm money by making our own pig feed. It's the same process as making our cattle feed just with a slight adjustment to our grinder/ mixer that makes all the difference. We buy all the feed stuff required to make the total mix feed. Run each through the mixer and at the end of the process we have a product that can be consumed by our pigs.

I am the 2nd generation to live on this property after my parents purchased it in 1978. As a child my father hobby farmed pigs for a couple years and ran a vegetable garden. But we were not a farm by any stretch of the imagination. There were however many family dairy farms surrounding us. So naturally I was hooked with farming since I saw my first tractor. As time went on, I worked for a couple of these farms and that only fueled my love of agriculture. In 2019 I was able to move back home as my parents were ready to downsize and I was ready to try my hand at farming. Stacy and logan share the same love of farming as I do. Stacy growing up on her family's dairy farm and logans exposure of farming/tractors at a very young age. We all share this same passion to grow a quality/healthy product to share with our community. Join us on this journey and see where the farm life takes us.