Feb 13 2018

Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary Posted 6 years 67 days ago by

Feeder cattle auctions steady; futures down. Formula trades lower; Beef prices down. Cotton prices down. Milk futures up. Crude oil down; Natural gas up. Stock markets up.

Cattle: Texas feeder cattle auctions reported steady prices. March Feeder cattle futures were down 40 cents, closing at $147.27 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was not active today. February Live cattle futures were down, losing 30 cents to close at $126.82 per cwt. Wholesale boxed beef values were down, with Choice grade losing 88 cents to close at $207.36 per cwt and Select grade losing 84 cents to close at $203.13 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week to date totals 227,000, down 3,000 from last week and up 1,000 from last year’s total. Year-to-date harvest is up 0.44%.

 

Cotton: Cotton prices were down, with cash prices down, closing at 73.75 cents per pound and March cotton futures down, closing at 76.38 cents per pound.

Corn and Grain Sorghum: March corn futures were steady to close at $3.67 per bushel.

 

Wheat: March wheat futures were down, losing 3 cents to close at $4.75 per bushel.

Milk: Milk prices were up, with February Class III milk futures gaining 1 cent to close at $13.48 per cwt.

 

Stock Markets and Crude Oil: Stock markets were up, with all three major indexes showing gains. February Crude oil futures were down 10 cents to close at $59.19 per barrel.

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From weekly recap:

 

AUSTIN – (Feb. 12, 2018) For the week ending Feb. 9, 2018, Texas feeder cattle auctions reported mostly steady to higher prices, with only five instances of lower. Texas Weekly Direct reported trade activity as active on good demand and prices steady to $3 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Fed cattle cash prices traded slow on light demand. Compared to last week live cash trades were steady at $126.00 per cwt. Wholesale Beef values were lower than the previous week, with Choice Grade losing $2.58 to close at $206.52 per cwt and Select Grade losing 71 cents to end at $202.74 per cwt. For the time period of Jan. 26 – Feb. 1, exporters reported net sales of 18,500 metric tons (MT) for 2018. Increases were reported for Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Canada and Mexico. Exports of 16,000 MT were reported for 2018. The primary destinations were to Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Mexico and Taiwan.

 

Cotton prices were mixed, with cash prices rising to close at 73.75 cents per pound and March futures falling to close at 76.68 cents per bushel. Net sales of 402,400 running bales (RB) were reported for 2017/2018, up 33 percent from the previous week and 75 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for China, Pakistan, Turkey, Indonesia and Vietnam. Exports of 20,800 RB were up 63 percent from the previous week and from the prior 4-week average.  The primary destinations were to China, India, Vietnam, Japan and Peru.

 

Wheat prices up at the close of last week, with cash prices gaining 3 cents to close at $4.23 per bushel and March futures also gaining 3 cents to close at $4.66 per bushel. Net sales totaled 393,400 MT for delivery in marketing year 2017/2018 were up 36 percent from the previous week and 67 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were for Mexico, South Korea, Indonesia, Nigeria and Japan. Exports of 467,800 MT were down 9 percent from the previous week, but up 17 percent from the prior 4-week average.  The primary destinations were to Japan, Indonesia, Algeria, Morocco and Nigeria.

 

Corn prices were unchanged at the close of last week, with cash prices remaining steady to close at $3.74 per bushel and March futures remaining steady to close at $3.62 per bushel. Net sales of 1,769,600 MT for 2017/2018 were down 4 percent from the previous week, but up 27 percent from the prior 4-week average.  Increases were reported for South Korea, Egypt, Spain, Japan and Colombia. Exports of 961,200 were down 8 percent from the previous week, but up 22 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily to Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Peru and Colombia.

 

Grain sorghum cash prices were lower at the close of last week, losing 22 cents to close at $5.79 per cwt. Net sales of 73,600 MT for 2017/2018 resulted as increases for China, Mexico and Japan. Exports of 125,600 MT were down 49 percent from the previous week and 15 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were to China, Japan and Mexico.

Milk prices were lower at the close of last week, with February Class III milk futures losing 16 cents to end the week at $13.47 per cwt.

 

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed abnormally dry conditions for the state, with 90.24 percent of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity, up 3.51 percentage points from last week. On the national level, drought conditions slightly improved, with 66.95 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, down 0.15 percentage points from last week.