Cattle country was relatively quiet on Thursday afternoon after most regions generated moderate levels of business earlier in the day. Most dressed sales in the North were marked at 202.00, 1.00 to 2.00 lower. The lion’s share of the live trade in the South was called 1.00 lower at 125.00. Although there could be some additional clean-up action on Friday, the guess is that the cash market has been pretty much completed for the week. The kill totaled 116,000 head, the same as a week ago, but 12,000 less than last year.
Boxed beef cutout values were lower on light to moderate demand and moderate offerings. Choice boxed beef was down .78 at 183.46, and select was 1.20 lower at 183.12.
Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled 117 to 202 points lower on long liquidation; technical selling and beef demand fears. April settled 1.96 lower at 122.50 and June was down 2.02 at 118.47.
Feeder cattle contracts settled 140 to 187 points in the red on the active liquidation in the live pit. Sharply lower corn values appeared to have little positive affect on feeder futures. April settled 1.70 lower at 151.27, and May was down 1.87 at 151.82.
Feeder cattle receipts at the Huss Platte Valley Auction in Nebraska totaled 3900 head on Wednesday. Compared to last week, steers and heifers were steady to 4.00 higher, instances 5.00 to 6.00 higher on 800 lb. steers. Most offerings sold in light to medium flesh. Demand was good, even with the sharp losses on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Feeder steers medium and large 1 averaging 780 lbs. brought 158.34 per hundredweight. 712 pound heifers averaged 149.27.
Lean hogs ended the session 75 to 212 points lower on additional concerns of slipping pork demand over the near term and continued pressure in both the cash and wholesale meat prices. April settled .75 lower at 83.02, and June was down 2.10 at 90.07.
There was moderate market activity with moderate demand in the cash hogs on Thursday. Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trace closed 2.33 lower at 79.44 on a carcass basis, the West was down .98 at 80.41, and the East was 1.39 lower at 77.12. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady to 1.00 lower from 74.00 to 77.00. Terminal hogs were steady to 1.50 lower from 54.00 to 58.50.
Pork trading was slow, with mostly light to moderate demand and moderate offerings. Pork carcass cutout value was down .77 at 79.51.
Thursday’s hog kill was estimated at 413,000 head, 3,000 less than last week, and down 4,000 from a year ago.
For the week ending March 24, Iowa barrows and gilts averaged 276.6 pounds, 0.7 pounds lighter than the previous week and 2.5 pounds heavier than 2011. This should mark the beginning of a seasonal downturn in live weights that typically extends through late summer.