Grains are mostly lower early with livestock higher except live cattle.
Scott Varilek of Kooima Kooima Varilek says cattle futures are being led by the feeders and the cash market which is on fire out in the country.
Talk of heifer retention and herd expansion is starting to circulate in part due to better moisture and pasture conditions in the South but he says that is also driving the demand for feeders.
Cow slaughter is also running well under a year ago.
The live cattle futures have held together well he says considering there is a USDA Cattle on Feed Report on Friday and there are bearish expectations for placements at the 104% level.
Fed cash has been very light at $290 dressed in the North, steady with last week and Varilek says a small regional packer has paid $187 for a few.
He thinks the cash market could be fully steady if the futures board continues to hold together.
Choice boxed beef values have been holding up despite the Thanksgiving holiday season and the Choice Select spread has also widened out which he says reflects strong demand.
Lean hog futures traded both sides as the market has been consolidating under the contract highs from last week but still holding support on the charts due to the futures discount to the cash index.
Grains are mostly lower shortly after the open despite strong weekly exports and more export sales on soybeans including 7.3 million bu. to China, 5 million to unknown and 133,000 metric tons of soybean meal to the Philippines.
Weekly exports were solid at 58.8 million bu. for corn, 68.4 mb on soybeans and 20.2 mb on wheat.
Wheat was adding risk premium this week helping the corn but wheat has run into chart resistance and is consolidating.
He says cash basis levels have been strong for soybeans and even more so for corn and he suggests producers don’t let that opportunity slip away.
