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Cattle trade in all regions at higher prices on Wednesday

October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled 15 to 57 points lower on concerns of this week’s cash cattle prices. Fund selling, bear spreading, the improvement in the U.S. dollar and lower stocks added to the bearishness in the live pit. October was down 57 points at 85.50, and December was down 17 at 86.92. Boxed beef cutout values were generally steady on light to moderate demand and offerings. Choice boxed beef was up .13 at 141.79, and select ended the day at 136.41 up .14.

Feeder cattle ended the session 15 to 57 points lower on profit taking, the selling of October before its expiration on Thursday, and the downturn in the live pit. October settled 20 points lower at 93.65, and November was down .35 at 95.50.

Philip Livestock Auction, Philip, SD on Tuesday receipts totaled 7863 head. Steer calves weighing under 500 pounds sold mostly steady, over 500 pounds 3.00 to 4.00 higher on increased offerings. Heifer calves sold mostly 3.00 higher, instances of 4.00 higher on an increased supply. Yearling steers and heifers had no recent comparison. Buyer attendance was good, with good demand. Feeder steers medium and large 1, 1391 head averaging 530 pounds brought 107.19 per hundredweight. 887 heifers weighing 525 traded at an average of 95.89.

Wednesday’s cattle slaughter was estimated at 126,000 head, the same as last week but 14,000 more than last year. USDA mandatory reported cattle trading was moderate in the Texas Panhandle on moderate to good demand. Live sales trended 1.00 to 2.00 higher, than last week at 87.00 to 88.00. A moderate to active trade developed in Kansas on moderate to good demand, with live sales 1.50 to 2.50 higher at 87.00 and dressed sales 3.00 higher at 139.00. Trading is light to moderate in Central and Western Nebraska on moderate demand. Compared to last week, lives sales are 1.50 to 2.00 higher at 86.00 to 87. A few dressed sales in Iowa/Minnesota sold steady to 2.00 higher at 132.00

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa Minnesota direct trade closed .07 higher at 51.62 on a carcass basis, the West was down .03 at 51.59, and the East was .30 lower at 49.13. Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady at 42.00 to 48.00. Hog slaughter was estimated at 430,000 head, 3,000 more than last week, and 7,000 less than last year.  However as we near the end of the week Saturday kill plans sound smaller than last week, possibly as low as 120,000 head, if so packer bids could soften their bids. Thursday’s market looks steady to weaak.

Lean hogs settled 15 to 52 points higher after experiencing steady pressure and profit taking early in the session. Short covering, fund buying and buy stops were the main features. December settled at 55.95 up 52 points, and February was at 62.22 also up 52. Pork trading was slow to moderate, with light to moderate demand and offerings. Pork carcass cutout value was up 1.34 at 57.54.

Pork bellies ended 125 to 155 points lower on profit taking with the front months under the most pressure. February was down 125 points at 89.00, and March was also 125 lower at 86.75.

Filed Under: Closing Futures & Livestock Briefs Tagged With: ,

Closing Grain and Livestock Futures: October 28, 2009

October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

December corn closed at $3.69, down 1 and 3/4 cents
November soybeans closed at $9.68 and 1/2, down 5 cents
December soybean meal closed at $291.30, up $3.70
December soybean oil closed at 36.86, down 62 points
December wheat closed at $4.94 and 3/4, down 8 and 1/2 cents
October live cattle closed at $85.55, down 57 cents
December lean hogs closed at $55.95, up 52 cents
December crude oil closed at $77.46, down $2.09
December cotton closed at 66.88, down 17 points
November Class III milk closed at $13.60, down 16 cents
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 9,762.69, down 119.48 points

Filed Under: Closing Futures & Livestock Briefs, Markets Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,

CountryMark to testify at D.C. hearing

October 28, 2009 By 1 Comment

CountryMark VP of Strategic Planning, Mark Smorch will be in Washington, D.C. on Thursday, October 29 to testify before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on proposed Cap and Trade legislation.

“This is a valuable opportunity for CountryMark to represent our employees, our cooperative system, our customers, and the competitive viability of rural Indiana,” said Matt Smorch, CountryMark Vice President of Strategic Planning. “We’re at a critical juncture in this legislative process. It is vital that the U.S. Senate understand the real costs associated with this legislation. The proposed cap and trade legislation will cost American jobs and will increase the cost of living in this country. Possibly worst of all, scientists agree that the proposed cap and trade legislation will have little to no impact on the environment.”

The hearing is scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. and will be webcast.

Highlights of CountryMark’s testimony:

• The current Cap and Trade legislation pending in Congress is the single biggest threat to the viability of Indiana-based CountryMark. It’s estimated that the cost of the carbon taxes to CountryMark will exceed $100 million per year. In its current form, Cap and Trade legislation will put American energy companies, like CountryMark, out of business.

• Beyond petroleum, climate taxes will adversely affect virtually all aspects of production agriculture. Doanne Advisory Services reports that under Cap and Trade, farming costs will increase over $80 per acre for corn production, $20 per acre for soybean production and $30 per acre for wheat production.

• It is expected that electric bills in the Midwest will double, gasoline and diesel fuel costs will increase in cost by 77 cents a gallon, and millions of American jobs will be lost.

• Climatologists acknowledge this legislation will do little to nothing regarding climate. The Administration’s climate models estimate that Cap and Trade measures will reduce global temperature by 0.2 degrees in 100 years.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, News, Top Stories, USDA/Government Tagged With: , , , , ,

Goat conference scheduled

October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

A national conference on raising goats is going to be held Friday and Saturday, October 30 and 31 at the Harrison County Fairgrounds in Corydon, Indiana.

The first, Corn Country Commercial Goat Conference will feature university speakers from Purdue, Tennessee State, Oklahoma State, and Langston. Topics to be discussed include everything from forages, to fence options, to marketing.

“This is a national conference about raising goats,” said David Trotter, Purdue Extension educator in Clark County and conference speaker. “Attendees will learn new production information and sources where they can go to get information after the conference ends.”

There is no fee to attend the conference, but registration is required. Individuals can register by calling the Purdue Extension office in Harrison County at 812-738-4236 or in Clark County at 812-256-4591.

Filed Under: Events/Organizations, Livestock, News Tagged With:

Science and political decisions

October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

How many times have we heard, “we just want decisions to be science based,” but is that possible? At the recent Ohio State University Animal Welfare Symposium, I talked with Dr. Janice Swanson, Director and Professor of Animal Welfare and Behavior at Michigan State University about the use of science when it comes to political issues.

AUDIO: Dr. Janice Swanson, Michigan State University (3:00 MP3)

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Rural Issues Tagged With: ,

Midday cash livestock markets

October 28, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade opened 1.17 lower at 50.38 on a carcass basis, the West was down 1.23 at 50.39, and the East is .32 lower at 49.11. Missouri direct base carcass meat price is steady at 42.00 to 48.00.  Pork cutout value was higher on Tuesday and hog buyers had been expected to react with firmer prices and the need for more inventory. However as we near the end of the week Saturday kill plans sound smaller than last week, possibly as low as 120,000 head, if so packer bids could soften.

Packer inquiry into the cattle is light to moderate. Asking prices are around 88-89 in the South with bids there from 84-85. Northern feedlot operators are asking 137 but bids are only around 132 according to private sources. Mandatory did report a string of heifers sold in Nebraska on Tuesday at 87, DTN was told these cattle were purchased by a Kansas packer on a delivered basis. Nevertheless, this seems to be encouraging relative to an overall higher price trend.

Choice boxed beef at midday was up .38 at 142.04; select is .99 higher at 137.26.

 Philip Livestock Auction, Philip, SD on Tuesday receipts totaled 7863 head. Steer calves weighing under 500 pounds sold mostly steady, over 500 pounds 3.00 to 4.00 higher on increased offerings. Heifer calves sold mostly 3.00 higher, instances of 4.00 higher on an increased supply. Yearling steers and heifers had no recent comparison. Buyer attendance was good, with good demand. Feeder steers medium and large 1, 1391 head averaging 530 pounds brought 107.19 per hundredweight. 887 heifers weighing 525 traded at an average of 95.89.

For updated market information throughout the day tune to your local Brownfield affiliate radio station.

Filed Under: Livestock, Markets Tagged With: ,

Vegetarian diet is a choice

October 28, 2009 By 1 Comment

Commentary

Findings from a study that appears in a recent edition of the  Journal of the American Dietetic Association suggests that while vegetarian diets can be healthy, for some teenagers they may mask an eating disorder.

A vegetarian diet is a choice. I respect that. Just make sure you as a parent talk to your doctor or dietitian to make sure your child is getting the iron, vitamin, mineral and other nutritional supplements needed to enjoy a healthy, happy life.

AUDIO

Filed Under: Feature Programs, Two Cents Tagged With: ,

Corn rolling off production lines

October 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

DEKALBDEKALB brand corn production facilities like the one located near Grinnell, Iowa are beginning to package the first bags of DEKALB brand Genuity SmartStax corn.

At a media day in Grinnell on Monday, Matthew Brandt, DEKALB Marketing Product Manger told Brownfield that the event signaled the launch of the broadest spectrum, trait protection available on the market. Brandt says it will bring a  broader spectrum of above ground and below ground protection to farmers to really increase the durability of the trait, cover more insects, and to set the plant up to have the most yield potential across the country.

It is predicted that DEKALB brand Genuity SmartStax will be introduced on more than two million U.S. Corn acres in 2010. Genuity SmartStax products are planned to be offered in, maturities ranging from 83 day to 113 day RM.

DEKALB production line

Filed Under: Crops, News Tagged With:

Vilsack works on trade relationships in Asia

October 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack hopes that relationship building may help resolve issues that currently hinder agricultural trade with China. Secretary Vilsack and other high level Obama administration officials are in Asia discussing trade issues. In a telephone interview with Brownfield Tuesday, Vilsack said the delegation is trying to impress on the Chinese that the U.S. is taking action to eliminate concerns China has over U.S. Congressional action that limited poultry sales from China.

“We now expect them to reciprocate and our hope is that we can see some progress on one or more of these issues that have been separating us for some time,” said Vilsack from Beijing.

AUDIO: U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack (7 min. MP3)

Despite issues involving Chinese currency, Vilsack tells Brownfield the focus of his visit is less on monetary issues than it is on increasing agricultural trade with China.

“Currencies obviously make exports either more favorable or less favorable in terms of competitive pricing, but right now my focus is trying to get a relationship built so we can remove these very specific barriers that exist today,” said Vilsack, referring to China’s ban on imports of U.S. pork because of the H1N1 flu and continuing beef trade restrictions stemming from the discovery of BSE in the U.S.

The United States enjoys an agriculture trade surplus with China despite the overall trade deficit with China, says Vilsack.

Secretary Vilsack arrived in China after a stop in the Philippines where discussions also centered on bolstering agriculture trade.

Filed Under: News, USDA/Government, World Ag News/Trade Tagged With: ,

Corn, beans look ahead to next week’s weather: October 27, 2009

October 27, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Soybeans hit new two week lows on technical selling, the higher dollar and traders watching the weather. Harvest conditions across most of the Midwest and Delta have not been ideal to start out the week, but they are better than what’s expected during the second half of the week, at least in some areas. Forecasts for next week do look generally drier, at least at this time, providing most of that pressure on beans. Soybean meal and oil were lower, with meal hitting three week lows, picking up additional pressure from product spread trade. Also, demand has slowed down somewhat after the recent gains with no new reports of large export purchases.

Corn was lower on technical selling, spillover from wheat and the higher dollar. Corn’s also keeping close watch on the weather for next week, expecting decent progress after some pretty nasty conditions. Still, harvest is only 20% complete as of Sunday with delays of several weeks in some primary production areas and what has been harvested generally has very high moisture content. The story for corn this year has been the weather with a late start to planting, variable conditions during development and now widespread harvest delays. Demand may also be a negative factor as it tends to drop off around $4 and pick back up at about $3.50 and there haven’t been any recent large export sales. Ethanol futures were mixed.

The wheat complex was lower on profit taking, follow through from Monday and the higher dollar. A higher dollar makes U.S. goods more expensive on the export market, limiting competition. Winter wheat planting progress has been mixed, good for hard red, slower than average for soft red but soft red planting is expected to make improved progress next week. The supply and demand fundamentals remain negative and recent short covering interest just wasn’t in the market Tuesday. European wheat was lower on the generally lower activity in commodities; November Paris was down 1% and May London was 1.6% lower. Ukraine’s Ag Ministry reports that 94% of this year’s grain crop has been harvest with a running total of 43.3 million tons of which 21.6 million tons is wheat. Japan’s Ag Ministry states it will not issue a wheat tender this week.

Filed Under: Closing Futures & Livestock Briefs, Markets Tagged With: , , , ,
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