Texas Daily Ag Market Summary 2/23/15

Posted 9 years 279 days ago by

· Feeder cattle steady and firm; futures sharply lower.
· Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades lower; futures sharply lower; beef prices slightly higher.
· Cotton higher.
· Grains and soybeans mostly lower.
· Crude oil lower; natural gas higher.
· Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady and firm, with a few locations reporting an increase of $1 to $3 per cwt. Feeder cattle futures were lower in response to little trade volume and losses in the fed cattle market. The Texas fed cattle cash trade was inactive on Friday, though a few head sold in Nebraska at $159-$160 per cwt over the weekend. Wholesale boxed beef values were slightly higher. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 524,000 head, down 13K from the previous week and 13K from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is down 2.4%. Fed cattle futures were also lower due slow packer demand, inactive fed cattle cash markets, and gains in the lean hog futures market.

Cotton cash prices were unchanged and futures were higher despite a negative export sales balance in the FAS report released midmorning on Friday. Analysts are still weary of the USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum’s projection that all-cotton acreage will be at 9.7 million for 2015, down 12.1% from last year but up from the 9.4 million acre estimate by the National Cotton Council.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were lower as global supplies remain large and estimated acres planted in the US remain high. The USDA Outlook numbers for 2015 corn acreage were 89 million. Soybeans were lower as harvest continues in Brazil and Argentina’s weather forecast is favorable.

Wheat prices were also lower due to weak export numbers and the appreciation of the dollar in relation to the financial worries in the Eurozone.

Stock markets were higher after the European finance ministers agreed to a four month extension on Greece’s bailout. Little fresh news is available as light trading is mainly focused on this European affair.

Agri-Pulse: Washington Week Ahead: Agribusiness wary of DHS shutdown; Vilsack, McCarthy face lawmakers

WASHINGTON, Feb. 22, 2015 - The partisan showdown over funding the Department of Homeland Security comes to a head this week with the looming expiration of a stopgap funding bill.

Republicans have insisted on using a bill to fund DHS for the remainder of fiscal 2015 to block the executive actions aimed at allowing many illegal immigrants to stay in the country. Democrats have repeatedly refused to allow the bill to advance in the Senate.

DHS is operating on a continuing resolution that expires Friday. Much of its workforce could continue working even without funding authorization.

However, there is concern that meat processors and other companies would be unable to use the E-Verify system to check the legal status of workers, and applications for H-2A agricultural worker visas also could be slowed at a time when farms need to get their workforces ready for the coming growing season, said Frank Gasperini, executive vice president of the National Council of Agricultural Employers.

Use of E-Verify is generally not mandatory, but some meatpackers agreed to use it as part of settlement agreements in immigration cases.

Meanwhile, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, Interior Sally Jewell and other top administration officials will be trekking back and forth to Capitol Hill for multiple hearings this week.

Vilsack is set to testify before the Senate Agriculture Committee on Tuesday and the House Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee on Wednesday. He then heads to Phoenix where he'll speak to the ethanol industry group Growth Energy on Thursday and on Friday at the Commodity Classic, the grain and oilseeds industries' annual meeting.

In an unusual move, Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kansas, has scheduled four farmers, from the South and Midwest, to testify before, not after, Vilsack. Roberts told Agri-Pulse he wants to ensure that “farmers and ranchers and other rural stakeholders have a voice” at the committee.

McCarthy is on the Hill Wednesday and Thursday to testify before subcommittees of the House Energy and Commerce, and Appropriations committees respectively. She's almost certain to be grilled again about the agency's proposed greenhouse gas restrictions for power plants and the proposed rule re-defining the “waters of the United States” regulated under the Clean Water Act.

The House Agriculture Committee plans a pair of oversight hearings on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that could lay the groundwork for GOP attempts to make deeper cuts in food stamps than Republicans were able to achieve through the new farm bill.

Committee chairman Mike Conaway, R-Texas, hasn't said whether he'll propose new cuts to SNAP, only that he wanted to do a “soup-to-nuts” review of the program.But defenders of nutrition assistance fear Republicans are teeing up welfare programs for deep cuts as part of a long-term plan to reduce the deficit through the budget reconciliation process.

The witnesses Wednesday will include Douglas Besharov, a University of Maryland professor who is a leading advocate for welfare-to-work reforms, and Robert Greenstein, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, who will argue against cutting anti-poverty programs to reduce the budget deficit. The subcommittee hearing Thursday will focus on research that's been done on how SNAP works.

This also is a key time for President Obama's trade agenda. Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and the panel's ranking Democrat, Ron Wyden, have been negotiating the terms of a bill that would give Obama trade promotion authority, seen as a critical step to wrapping up the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement.

Hatch, had set a target of releasing the TPA bill this week, and he has scheduled a trade hearing for Thursday, but Wyden, made clear Friday that he hadn't yet agreed to the terms of a TPA bill.

Administration officials are maintaining their advocacy for TPA, however. U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman will speak to the National Association of Counties on Monday.

According to a report in The Hill, some Senate Republicans are looking to avoid a shutdown of DHS by allowing separate votes on Obama's executive actions.

A Texas judge threw a new wrinkle into the Homeland Security funding issue last week by blocking the administration from beginning the application process for deferrals, the action targeted by congressional Republicans. “Nobody has a good feel for what this is going to do for the DHS funding bill,” said Gasperini.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has been arguing against another stopgap spending bill, which he said limits the department's ability to upgrade equipment along the border and to address other needs. “We need a fully funded Department of Homeland Security unburdened by efforts to defund our efforts to fix the immigration system. That's what we need. That's what the public needs for the sake of public safety,” he told CNN.

Daily Market Summary Data for 2/23/2015

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Disclaimer: The information compiled in the Daily Market Summary is obtained from a variety of sources, including those available on the Internet, that are believed to be reliable and accurate, but are in no way guaranteed. This information is intended to provide only a summary of market trends and a daily snapshot of agricultural markets and economic indicators. It should not be relied upon as a sole source of market information. Commentary is the author’s alone and does not in any way convey official TDA policies.