March corn closed at $6.29, up 13 cents
January soybeans closed at $13.93 and 3/4, up 27 and 3/4 cents
January soybean meal closed at $370.30, up $4.90
January soybean oil closed at 57.74, up 113 points
March wheat closed at $7.94 and 1/4, up 9 and 1/2 cents
December live cattle closed at $107.90, up 90 cents
February lean hogs closed at $79.75, up 90 cents
February crude oil closed at $91.38, up $1.54
March cotton closed at 144.81, up 197 points
January Class III milk closed at $13.22, down 5 cents
Dow Jones Industrial Average: 11,577.51, up 7.80 points
Closing Grain and Livestock Futures: December 31, 2010
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
First FMD, now H5N1 in South Korea
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
South Korea has confirmed two outbreaks of the H5N1 Avian Influenza; one is a flock of ducks in the city of Cheonan while the other is a flock of chickens in the city of Iksan. Detection of the virus had prompted the authorities to cull more than 100,000 birds and quarantine commercial duck, chicken breeding farms in affected areas. No human illnesses have occurred.
This comes while the South Korean government is fighting an outbreak of Foot & Mouth disease. So far, 540,000 pigs, cattle and other livestock have been culled in an effort to get that under control. Reuters reports all livestock markets in South Korea have been shut down leading to a rise in beef and pork prices.
Cattle and hog futures hit new highs to end the year
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The last trading day of 2010 was a slow one in the livestock markets, both in terms of cash and futures. The fed cattle trade was pretty well completed by late Wednesday afternoon with just a light round of cleanup deals reported on Thursday. The $6 to $7 rally seen since before Christmas has nurtured an extreme level of bullish psychology in feedlot country. Look for producers to price the new show lists Monday around 110.00 plus in the South and 175.000 to 177.00 in the North.
Feeder cattle marketing through both the auctions and the direct sales were too light to establish nationwide trends or quote regional prices this week. For the most part, buyers and sellers alike took a full two weeks off to celebrate the holidays and dwell on how impressive the 2010 market rally was for the commercial cattle producer. Market levels for all classes of cattle gained ground throughout the year and peaked amidst holiday week business with calves and yearlings posting all-time record highs and fed cattle scoring the second highest weekly weighted average price in history. The average live basis this week at 106.00 to 107.50 was 2.00 to 5.00 higher and dressed was 5.00 to 7.00 higher at 168.00 to 170.00 posting an average live steer price of 106.26 which is second only to the pre- BSE 108.00 in October of 2003. Demand for all classes of cattle came through the holidays without a hitch and the future seems bright for 2011 and beyond with improving exports and tight supplies.
Chicago Mercantile exchange live cattle contracts settled higher on Friday with the December reaching a new contract high before its expiration. Traders focused on reestablishing contract highs through most of the nearby contracts and light holiday trade allowed for additional buying activity. December went of the board at 107.90 up .90, February was up 1.02 at 108.35, and April ended the session .87 higher at 112.20.
Feeder cattle finished 65 to 120 points higher on spillover support from the live cattle pit. January was up 1.05 and settled at 121.87, and March was 1.02 higher at 123.95.
Lean hogs settled 20 to 147 points higher and the spot February hit a new three month high and April settled with a new contract high. Strong gains in other commodities helped to support the lean issues. Light year end position appeared to be the main feature of Friday’s abbreviated trade. February settled .90 higher at 79.75, and April was up .95 at 83.87.
Direct hog market reports were not available on Friday. At the terminals most were closed with only Peoria reporting 100 hogs at steady prices from 47.00 to 49.00 on barrows and gilts and steady on sows’ from 43.00 to 46.00.
After two weeks of holiday disruptions, meat production and tonnage may need to balloon a good deal in the first half of January. This may be especially true for pork producers given the stubborn persistence of record live weights.
Some cash market reports are not available due to the holiday.
Grains and oilseeds end 2010 on a strong note
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Soybeans were sharply higher, hitting new 28-month highs on speculative and technical buying. March settled above $14, still short of the all time high set in summer 2008. Fundamentals continue to look strong and large portions of Argentina are expected to remain hot and dry over the near term. Additionally, those hot and dry conditions are creeping into portions of Brazil. Past that – contracts pretty much took the path of least resistance on the last day of 2010. Soybean meal and oil were higher on spillover from beans and the supply implication of a smaller South American crop.
Corn was higher on speculative and technical buying, along with spillover from beans. Contracts managed to make new 29-month highs near the close. The hot, dry conditions in the forecast for Argentina were also a supportive factor for corn. It was an incredible year for corn, roughly doubling in price, and demand projections are solid heading into 2011, especially for ethanol use. Ethanol futures were higher.
The wheat complex was higher on technical buying, in addition to the weak dollar and higher beans and corn. Traders were watching the snow totals in the U.S. Plains to make sure there’s adequate cover from bitter temperatures following a year of weather problems in some of the key global growing areas. In any event, fundamentals continue to turn towards the positive side on those world weather concerns. Along with the U.S. Plains, the trade’s keeping an eye on Russia and China.
Problems found in biomass assistance program
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
An audit report from USDA’s Office of Inspector General found problems in Farm Service Agency administration of the new Biomass Crop Assistance Program. A report on Agri-Pulse says a review of a dozen county FSA offices turned up problems in the Collection, Harvest, Storage and Transportation component of the program.
The OIG found inconsistent application of program provisions, varying methods for measuring biomass moisture levels, inconsistent use of program forms, and data errors.
The OIG says the problems occurred because the FSA’s haste to make a deadline resulted in the agency not developing a handbook, specialized forms, or computer support specific to the program.
The FSA’s Philip Sharp says the handbook, forms, and software are to be released in early January 2011.
The NAFB News Service contributed to this article
Heat, drought damage South American crops
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Heat is threatening corn and soybean crops in southern Brazil and Uruguay. Analysts are lowering harvest forecasts in that region, which is one of the factors pushing crop prices and fueling concerns about tight global supplies.
In Argentina, La Niña weather is causing drought and damaging fields. They’re projected to be the world’s second-largest corn exporter and third-largest soybean exporter this year, but hot, dry weather could limit production. Argentina’s corn and soybeans are at key development stages and some areas have had only a quarter of rainfall needed by this point in their growing season.
Corn, soybean and wheat prices are still well below 2008 peaks. But analysts say prices may continue rising as the extent of lost South American production becomes clear.
The NAFB News Service contributed to this article
Dorr touts ‘positive resolution’ to investigation
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
U.S. Grains Council President Tom Dorr says he’s surprised by China’s anti-dumping investigation of distiller’s dried grains from the U.S. and he says it could disrupt trade. Dorr says the bump in DDGS trade flow to China is in response to unprecedented Chinese demand.
Dorr says he’s proud the U.S. is a reliable supplier that could rapidly respond to global demand. He adds that the U.S. Grains Council values the Chinese market and China’s trade relationship with the U.S.
“The mission of the U.S. Grains Council is to help keep markets open and support the free flow of goods,” said Dorr, in a news release from the U.S. Grains Council. “The Council looks forward to continuing the strong trade relationship with buyers and end-users of U.S. goods in China and encourages a positive resolution to the investigation.”
Dairy loses a leader
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
A well-known individual in the Wisconsin dairy industry, Patty Endres died early Thursday. Patty and her husband Dave have the 750-cow Jazzy Jersey’s at Lodi and have been active in the U.S. Jersey Association, Wisconsin Farm Bureau Young Farmer program, Wisconsin Jaycees Outstanding Young Farmer program and she served on the Professional Dairy Producers of Wisconsin board of directors.
Patty, a registered dietician, had received a heart transplant in 2001 and was always an outspoken advocate of the health benefits of dairy for heart patients. We talked about that in an interview at World Dairy Expo in 2009.
CSPI dissatisfied with new meat labels
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
The Centers for Science in the Public Interest sees some problems with those new labels for meat and poultry. USDA published the final rule for the labels this week with implementation scheduled for a year from now. CSPI does not like that the labels can say “percent lean” on ground meat charging it misleads consumers into thinking a product is lower in fat content than it really is.
The group also does not like that the nutrition information for steaks, chops and other cuts of meat can be posted on the label or on signs in the supermarket. CSPI says supermarkets always choose signs which are “hard to find, difficult to decipher, and show nutrition information for relatively puny 4-ounce servings, thereby understating the calorie and fat content of typical servings of steaks.”
Four Wisconsin firms recognized for energy efficiency
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Three dairy farms and a floral growing operation have been given the Governor’s Award for Excellence in Energy Management. McMillan Farms of Marshfield, Peterson’s Dairy of Lena, Rosendale Dairy of Pickett and Floral Plant Growers of Denmark are being recognized for their efforts to increase energy efficiency.
Since 2009, McMillan Farms of Marshfield has saved more than 6,000 kWh of electricity annually. To reduce energy use, McMillan Farms upgraded a low-efficiency continuous cross-flow grain dryer to a high-efficiency mixed-flow grain dryer. These efforts add up to $11,000 in annual energy cost savings.
Since 2008, Peterson’s Dairy LLC of Lena has saved more than 147,000 kWh of electricity annually. To reduce energy use, Peterson’s Dairy LLC installed a plate heat exchanger on its milk pipeline; added a variable-frequency drive on its milk vacuum pumps; and is utilizing a plate heat exchanger on its well water pre-cooler. These efforts add up to $11,000 in annual energy cost savings.
Since 2009, Rosendale Dairy of Pickett has saved more than 3.6 million kWh of electricity and 6,000 therms of natural gas annually. To reduce energy use, Rosendale Dairy utilizes heat-recovery tanks; invested in plate heat exchangers on its milk pipelines; added variable-frequency drives on its dairy vacuum pumps and milk transfer pumps; upgraded to energy-efficient lighting; installed an energy efficient water heater; and installed energy-efficient livestock waterers. These efforts add up to $288,000 in annual energy cost savings
Since 2008, Floral Plant Growers, LLC of Denmark has saved more than 144,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity and 211,000 therms of natural gas annually. To reduce energy use in its greenhouses, Floral Plant Growers, LLC installed power-vented unit heaters and replaced double poly film roof glazing with double infrared (IR) poly film; upgraded to energy-efficient lighting; and installed occupancy sensors. Floral Plant Growers, LLC is also keeping up with preventive maintenance, utilizing thermal blankets, and reducing air infiltration. These efforts add up to $240,000 in annual energy cost savings.
The four worked in partnership with Focus on Energy, Alliant Energy, Marshfield Utilities, Oconto Electric Co-op, WE Energies and Wisconsin Public Service. Ken Williams with Focus on Energy says, “The efforts of these four agribusinesses combined will save enough energy in one year to power more than 600 Wisconsin homes for a year and are equivalent to offsetting more than 11,550 barrels of oil from being burned thus eliminating 9.1 million pounds of carbon dioxide (CO2) from being released into the atmosphere.”
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