2/11/2025 Market Commentary

Live Cattle: Futures were under pressure on Tuesday following the news of a human contracting bird flu. The market poked below some key support areas but did see light recovery back above those levels later in the day. Cash news is very quiet in the country, especially in the north. There was light trade in Kansas late in the morning at $203, three dollars lower than last week. Boxed beef was slightly lower on the morning report, now $10+ off the highs we have recently seen. The choice/select spread continues to run at a narrow level, indicating there is demand weakness at the meat counter. Overall, the managed money is running the futures market. The funds were holding a near record-long position as of last Tuesday, and with uncertainty in the market and negative news surrounding cattle and beef, those funds are exiting positions in a big way.

Feeder Cattle: Feeder cattle futures are also falling victim to the negative news stories. Futures did rebound $2 off of the lows for the day but still finished with big losses. Cash feeders are also working lower; more supply of bigger index cattle is softening the bids a little along with dragging down the weighted average price. News of Mexican feeder cattle imports is also weighing on the market.

Lean Hogs: Today’s WASDE report slightly raised total pork production for 2025 by 20 million pounds. This now has 2025 production up 2.7% compared to 2024. Annual exports are forecasted to be 7.295 billion pounds, which would be 2.5% larger than last year and a record if projections hold true. There have been some packers taking out their Saturday harvests as cash hog prices continue to remain seasonally strong. The cutout continues its strength as well with Monday’s cutout just $0.38 away from $100. The bellies continue to lead the charge at $168.15. The WASDE report today has Q2 production up 2%, Q3 up 4% and Q4 up 4% from a year ago. We saw June lean hogs close at $104.70 today, and July lean hogs closed at $105.25, which is only $0.25 off of contract highs for both months. August closed at $104.275, $0.10 off the contract high.

Corn: The WASDE report offered no changes to the balance sheet for corn in the U.S. There was a reduction of 1 MMT to both Brazil and Argentina production estimates. There was a flash sale of exports to Mexico on Monday morning, easing the minds of a lot of traders that the trade war with Mexico may be short lived, or at least have some sort of resolution by this fall. Ethanol demand has been strong, although production levels have backed off from the record levels of a few months ago. The U.S. export pace remains above the seasonal pace needed to meet the USDA export goal. Some thought there would likely be an increase in export demand in today’s report, but the USDA opted to leave that number unchanged—something to watch in the coming reports.

Closing Prices

Market Month Last Change
Corn March 484.00 7.50
CHI Wheat March 577.00 2.50
KC Wheat March 592.75 4.25
MN Wheat March 618.25 7.00
Soybeans March 1043.50 6.00
Soy Oil March 46.13 0.40
Soy Meal March 296.60 3.90
Live Cattle April 196.000 2.125
Feeder Cattle March 264.775 3.350
Lean Hogs April 92.975 1.350
Crude Oil March 73.32 1.00
Ch Cutout 322.26 0.88
Sel Cutout 312.3 1.32
Feeder Index 275.85 0.09
Pork Cutout 99.62 2.31
Dollar Index 107.932 0.39
DOW 44,628 157
National Corn Basis -32.67 0.01
National Bean Basis -64.31 0.21

Dates to Remember

Feb 11- WASDE Report

Feb 17- No Markets

Feb 21- Cattle on Feed Report

 

Hog Fundamentals

Current One Week Ago Change One Year Ago Change
Lead Month Future 88.725 85.075 3.65 73.550 15.175
National Cash 83.17 83.43 0.26 65.21 17.96
Index 85.75 83.77 1.99 74.11 11.64
Cutout 99.62 93.81 5.81 85.80 13.82
IA/SMN Cash 83.02 84.31 1.29 65.49 17.53
IA/SMN Weights 290.80 291.70 0.10 290.80 0.00
Slaughter 2,536,000 2,569,000 33,000 2,623,899 87,899

Cattle Fundamentals

Current One Week Ago Change One Year Ago Change
North Cash 208.00 179.98
South Cash 205.89 179.86
North Steer Basis 6.30 -3.22
Choice Boxes 322.62 333.73 11.11 294.08 28.54
Select Boxes 312.30 320.75 .8.45 287.02 25.28
Spread 10.32 12.98 2.66 7.06 3.26
Carcass Weights 872 874 2 833 39
Slaughter 584,000 600,000 16,000 617,013 33,013
FC Index 275.76 280.63 4.87 246.06 29.7

Cash Cattle Markets

Region This Week Last Week Last Year
TX/OK/NM $205.86 $180.11
KS $205.89 $179.86
NE $208.00 $179.98
IA/MN $207.14 $180.84

CFTC Disaggregated COT Report

As of: 2/4/2025
Commodity Current Managed Money Change Current Producer/Commercial Change Total OI Total OI Change
Live Cattle 150,374 6,535 -183,969 6,104 373,060 2,573
Feeder Cattle 28,175 704 -10,875 773 79,945 236
Lean Hogs 95,329 3,392 -150,451 2,618 312,221 2,036
Corn 364,217 13,496 -643,777 14,874 2,027,008 10,990
Soybeans 57,029 533 -147,685 1,908 904,209 3,600

Live Cattle Markets

The April contract broke below the bottom-side support at 195.325, but settled back above that level. Topside resistance will be at the 20-day MA of 200.050, support under the market remains at the 50-day MA of 195.350 and the spike low from January 8 at 195.625.

Feeder Cattle Markets

March Feeder futures continue to be stuck between the 20-day MA and the 50-day MA. The contract did trade below the 50-day MA and support levels today but closed above them. Resistance will be at 270.750 at the 20-day MA along with chart consolidation at 271.350-271.500. Support is at the 50-day MA of 264.200 and the spike low of 263.625 from January 8.

Lean Hogs Markets

April Hogs posted new highs for the move on Monday. Resistance above the market remains at 93.050. The gap in the chart at 89.900 will be the first line of support.

Corn Markets

March Futures first line of resistance is Wednesday’s high at 498 1/2, followed by 504 1/2. Support lies at the 20-day MA, 486 3/4, then 472 1/4 to 474 area.

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