Hogs: Even with a stronger U.S. dollar, futures were not able to hold onto higher morning trade on Wednesday. We are also seeing some trade positioning before the three-day holiday up ahead. Short-term fundamentals have been mixed. Cash hogs and cash pork were slightly lower in the two previous sessions and posted higher prices on the day.
Cattle: An animal rights group put an end to this fledgling rally. Activists filmed workers at a dairy calf development farm in Hart, Texas, killing dairy calves. The release of this video, and coverage in the media, persuaded traders to exit longs. Theoretically, this could cause consumers to avoid eating beef for a few days. It should not cause any long-term problems for beef demand, though. For short-term direction, we have heard of $119 moving in Kansas. That would be steady with last week, as expected…Rich Nelson
Rich Nelson is Director of Research at Allendale, Inc. in McHenry, IL. Allendale is registered with the CFTC and NFA and is a member of the NIBA. www.allendale-inc.com.
