Corn was higher on technical buying and spillover from the outside markets. Demand looks good with a strong week for new crop export sales and Egypt picking up 120,000 tons of 2010/11 U.S. corn ahead of the open. Similar to beans, there are yield uncertainties ahead of those upcoming supply and demand estimates. Contracts were down for most of the session on harvest pressure prior to making another new set of 14 month highs late in the day. Ethanol futures were higher.

The wheat complex was mostly higher on fund and technical buying. According to Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, Russia will continue to suspend grain exports until the end of next year’s harvest. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stated there are no concerns over food shortages. Additionally, there are continued delays in Russia’s winter planting, along with dry conditions in portions of Argentina’s and Australia’s wheat growing regions. However, contracts were below the day’s highs, pulled down late by profit taking. European wheat was higher on that Russian news; November Paris was up .9% and November London was 1% higher. Tunisia bought 50,000 tons of optional origin wheat.

Chicago Mercantile exchange live cattle contracts settled 22 to 77 points higher in light to moderate trade. October futures are now running about $1.00 over the cash price which is traditionally in line with normal pricing patterns. Fund buying and spreads were the major features of Thursday’s session. October settled .70 higher at 88.45, and December was up .72 at 101.32.

Feeder cattle finished the day 25 to 100 points higher on the lack of substantial upward movement in corn and spillover support from the live cattle pit. September settled at 114.75 up .87, and October was .65 higher at 115.50.

Cattle receipts at the Huss Platte Valley Auction in Nebraska on Wednesday totaled 1800 head. Compared with two weeks ago, based on a narrow test steers trended fully steady and heifers were steady. Demand and trade activity was moderate to good. Slaughter cows and bulls trended fully steady. Feeder cattle medium and large 1; 618 steers averaging 871 pounds traded at 113.46 per hundredweight. 144 heifers weighing 828 pounds brought 108.73.

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade closed 1.10 lower, and the West was down .95, with both at 76.92 on a carcass basis, the east was .11 lower at 76.98. Missouri direct base carcass meat price was steady to 1.00 lower at 73.00 to 74.00.Thursday’s hog slaughter was estimated at 410,000 head, 2,000 less than last week and 25,000 fewer than last year. Iowa barrows and gilts last week averaged 265.6 pounds, 1 pound lighter than the previous week, and1.4 pounds below 2009.  The scale house is having a tough time finding the seasonal bottom as smaller market hogs reflect the ravages of the hot summer as well as very current finishing floors.

Pork carcass cutout value gained 1.65 to close at 92.32. Pork trading was slow to moderate, with light to moderate demand and offerings.

Lean hogs settled 67 to 147 higher on fund buying activity. The expectation that pork markets may stabilize at the end of the week helped to draw light commercial buying into the market, especially given the additional reduction in average hog weights this past week.  October settled 1.47 higher at 76.42, and December was up 1.27 at 74.15.

Wheat came out at 1,024,100 tons (37.6 million bushels), down 5% from the week ending August 19 and 12% lower than the four week average. Nigeria was the leading buyer at 171,700 tons. At this point in the 2010/11 marketing year, wheat sales are 517.5 million bushels, compared to 321.1 million in 2009/10.

2009/10 corn had a net reduction of 28,500 tons (1.1 million bushels). The 2009/10 marketing year is officially over but there’re still some adjustments to be made. Cumulative old crop corn sales are 2.065 billion bushels, compared to 1.931 billion at the tail end of 2008/09. Sales of 1,686,700 tons (66.4 million bushels) for 2010/11 delivery were mostly to unknown destinations (848,300 tons).

2009/10 soybeans were reported at 917 tons, with a number of sales mostly offset by a handful of cancellations. With some calculations left to be done, 2009/10 soybean sales are 1.517 billion bushels, compared to 1.326 billion in 2008/09. Sales of 613,000 tons (22.5 million bushels) for 2010/11 delivery were primarily to China (175,000 tons).

Soybean meal was pegged at 156,000 tons, up sharply from the previous week and 93% higher than the four week average. The top purchaser was Japan at 26,500 tons. For the marketing year to date, soybean meal sales are 9,722,100 tons, compared to 7,224,700 this time last year. Sales of 222,400 tons for 2010/11 delivery were mostly to the Philippines (80,700 tons).

Soybean oil was placed at 7,900 tons. Morocco was the leading buyer at 27,000 tons while unknown destinations canceled on 19,000 tons. So far this marketing year, soybean oil sales are 1,460,300 tons, compared to 916,500 a year ago. Sales of 4,400 tons for 2010/11 delivery were to Mexico.

Net beef sales totaled 11,600 tons. That’s 4% below the prior week but 8% above the four week average. The listed buyers were Japan (4,800 tons), Vietnam (1,700 tons), Mexico (1,500 tons), Canada (1,300 tons) and the Netherlands (600 tons).

Boxed beef cutout values were higher at midday, choice beef is up .33 at 162.95, and select is .55 higher at 157.41.

Cattle receipts at the Huss Platte Valley Auction in Nebraska on Wednesday totaled 1800 head. Compared with two weeks ago, based on a narrow test steers trended fully steady and heifers were steady. Demand and trade activity was moderate to good. Slaughter cows and bulls trended fully steady. Feeder cattle medium and large 1; 618 steers averaging 871 pounds traded at 113.46 per hundredweight. 1443 heifers weighing 828 pounds brought 108.73.

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota trade opened 1.02 lower; the West is down .87 with both at 77.00 on a carcass basis. Eastern direct trade is .71 lower at 76.38. Missouri direct base carcass meat price is steady to 1.00 lower from 73.00 to 74.00. Nationally on a live basis barrows and gilts are 2.43 higher from 58.50 to 64.00, with a weighted average of 63.27.

Iowa barrows and gilts last week averaged 265.6 pounds, 1 pound lighter than the previous week, and1.4 pounds below 2009.  The scale house is having a tough time finding the seasonal bottom as smaller market hogs reflect the ravages of the hot summer as well as very current finishing floors.

Corn was higher on fund and technical buying, in addition to spillover from wheat and the outside markets. The dollar was lower while the Dow and crude oil were both sharply higher. Demand continues to look strong with corn expected to increase its share of the global feed market. Also, there are continued reports of lower than expected yields from some of the big production areas. In general, many in the trade see a downward production revision in the September 10 USDA update. Ethanol futures were higher. Weekly U.S. corn sales are expected to be between 800,000 and 1.5 million tons. The 2009/10 marketing year for corn ended August 31.

The wheat complex was sharply higher on fund and technical buying, along with spillover from the outside markets. The big supportive feature was a pair of significant export sales. Egypt bought 225,000 tons of U.S. wheat, bypassing French wheat which has soared in price this week – additionally U.S. wheat is substantially higher quality than most other origins. Also, Germany picked up 20,000 tons of U.S. hard red spring, its first purchase of non-durum U.S. wheat in 3 years following excessive rain during harvest. Cooperative Bulk Holding Ltd. has Western Australia’s crop at 6 million tons, following drier than average weather during the growing season, and large portions of Argentina remain dry with the Rosario Grain Exchange pegging production at 9 million to 10.5 million tons. The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization lowered its estimate for Russia to 43 million tons while increasing the U.S. export projection to 31 million to 33 million tons. According to Pakistan’s Ag Ministry, via Dow Jones Newswires, flooding has destroyed not only growing crops but roughly 1.5 million tons of wheat reserves. European wheat was weak, waiting to see how much demand for U.S. wheat will increase; November Paris and November London were both down .1%. Weekly U.S. wheat sales are estimated at 600,000 to 1 million tons.

Chicago Mercantile Exchange live cattle contracts settled 10 to 55 points higher on stronger outside market moves. The U.S. stock market rose the most in almost two months on news of better than expected growth in both the American and Chinese manufacturing sector. Short covering appeared to be the main feature in Wednesday’s session. October settled .47 higher at 97.75, and December was up .55 at 110.60.

Feeder cattle contracts settled 05 to 42 points lower with most traders’ content to sit on the sidelines as there was very little urgency to step into the market on the first trading day of the month. Higher corn prices exerted additional pressure on the market. September settled .22 lower at 113.87, and October was down .25 at 114.85.

At the Ozarks regional Stockyards at West plains, Missouri on Tuesday, feeder cattle receipts totaled 5556 head. Compared to last week, steers and heifers traded 2.00 to 5.00 lower, with spots of 8.00 to 10.00 lower. Feeder steers medium and large 1 and 1-2 weighing 500 to 600 pounds traded from 108.00 to 122.00, 7 to 8 weights from 103.00 to 114.00 per hundredweight. 500 to 600 pound heifers brought 102.50 to 114.00 and 7 to 8 weights from 97.50 to 104.00.

Iowa/Minnesota direct trade barrows and gilts closed 1.34 lower at 77.92 on a carcass basis, the West was down 1.28 at 77.81, and in the East the market was .37 lower at 77.19. The Missouri direct base carcass meat price closed steady at 74.00. Wednesday’s hog slaughter was estimated at 413,000 head, the same as last week, but 18,000 less than last year. Pork trading was slow to moderate with mostly light retail demand and moderate offerings. While processing cuts experienced moderate demand and very light offerings. Pork carcass cutout value was down .50 at 90.73.

 Many hog buyers remain short bought at midweek, forcing them to ignore plunging product prices. Ready numbers remain tighter than most expected. Furthermore, the Saturday kill may be larger than first thought, perhaps as high as 60,000 head.

Lean hogs settled weaker from 12 higher to 47 points lower. The moderate to sharp losses early in the week as well as the lack of support in the pork cutout values, led to pressure from both the commercial and non commercial side of the market. October closed .20 lower at 74.95, and December was down .40 at 72.87.

Boxed beef cutout values were mixed at midday, with choice beef down .61 at 163.03, and select up .20 at 157.08.

At the Ozarks regional Stockyards at West plains, Missouri on Tuesday, feeder cattle receipts totaled 5556 head. Compared to last week, steers and heifers traded 2.00 to 5.00 lower, with spots of 8.00 to 10.00 lower. Feeder steers medium and large 1 and 1-2 weighing 500 to 600 pounds traded from 108.00 to 122.00, 7 to 8 weights from 103.00 to 114.00 per hundredweight. 500 to 600 pound heifers brought 102.50 to 114.00 and 7 to 8 weights from 97.50 to 104.00.

Barrows and gilts in the Iowa/Minnesota direct trade are 1.65 lower, and the west is down 1.46, both are at 77.63 on a carcass basis, the East is .44 lower at 77.12.The Missouri direct base carcass meat price is steady at 74.00.

 Many hog buyers remain short bought at midweek, forcing them to ignore plunging product prices. Ready numbers remain tighter than most expected. Furthermore, the Saturday kill may be larger than first thought, perhaps as high as 60,000 head.

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Corn was lower on profit taking and spillover from beans and wheat. Also, the Dow sold off late in the session, it did eventually settle firm, and crude oil closed sharply lower. There are a lot of questions about yield and Demand continues to look solid ahead of USDA’s supply and demand update with unknown destinations buying 100,000 tons of new crop U.S. corn and Taiwan picking up 60,000 tons ahead of the open. The 2010/11 marketing year officially starts September 1 and corn’s gotten a very good jump on sales due to global concerns over feed supply availability. Ethanol futures were lower. According to China’s National Grain and Oil Information Center, via Dow Jones Newswires, Beijing sold 33.1% of its total offering at the weekly auction, down sharply on the week.

The wheat complex was sharply lower on profit taking, along with fund and technical selling. Overall, outside of reports of slow winter planting in Russia, there was no real fresh fundamental news. At this point, it looks like contracts are pretty much taking the path of least resistance. The trade definitely remains concerned about global production, but there is rain in the forecasts for dry portions of Argentina and Australia, while Germany is expected to get a break from its recent harvest delaying precipitation. European wheat was mixed in consolidation trade, but demand helped keep a firm tone in the market; November London was up 1.7% and November Paris was .1% higher. Egypt issued a tender for 55,000 to 60,000 tons of wheat and Japan put out a tender for 138,857 tons, all U.S. origin (68,520 tons dark northern spring, 38,731 tons hard red winter and 31,606 tons western white).