Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 3/12/15

Posted 9 years 262 days ago by

· Feeder cattle no trend; futures higher.
· Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades lower; futures higher; beef prices lower.
· Cotton lower.
· Grains and soybeans higher, rough rice higher.
· Crude oil lower; natural gas higher.
· Stock markets mostly lower. Crude oil lower.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady to $2 higher, but multiple auctions either did not report or reported no trend. Feeder cattle futures were higher with nearby contracts holding aggressive gains. The Texas fed cattle cash trade remained inactive yesterday. Wholesale boxed beef values were lower. Estimated cattle harvest through Wednesday totaled 322,000 head, down 2K from last week and 20K from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is down 5.8%. Fed cattle futures followed feeder cattle future prices higher.

Cotton cash prices remained at 57.38 cents per pound while futures prices were lower, continuing the longest losing streak since November 2013.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were higher as demand assisted market gains. Soybean futures were $0.09 higher, closing at $9.89 per bushel. Wet weather in South America caused apprehension about the continent’s crop conditions.

Wheat prices followed grains higher and traders continue to hope the warmer weather will provide indications of winter wheat crop conditions.

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed an improvement in drought conditions for the state with about 58% of the state still in some stage of drought intensity, down about 3 percentage points from last week. Almost 26% of the state remains in severe, extreme, or exceptional drought, down slightly from last week, but up more than 2 percentage points from three months ago. On the national level, drought conditions worsened slightly with about 53% of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, up 0.13 percentage points from last week.

Stock markets closed mostly lower. Reports indicate that U.S. February retail sales fell for the third straight month, with analysts blaming the continued decline on inclement weather and low wage gains. Crude oil futures were $0.12 lower yesterday, settling at $48.17 per barrel. According to Baker Hughes Inc., as of March 6 there were only 922 active machines seeking oil in the U.S. There have not been so few since April 2011.

Daily Market Summary Data for 3/12/2015

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