Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 3/19/15

Posted 9 years 254 days ago by

· Feeder cattle steady to $10 higher; futures higher.
· Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades lower; futures higher; beef prices lower.
· Cotton higher.
· Grains and soybeans higher, rough rice higher.
· Crude oil higher; natural gas higher.
· Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady to $10 higher. Feeder cattle futures followed live cattle futures prices higher. The Texas fed cattle cash trade saw no reportable trade. Wholesale boxed beef values fell $0.24 for Choice grade and $0.32 for Select grade. Estimated cattle harvest through Wednesday totaled 327,000 head, up 5K from last week, but down 25K from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is down 7.1%. Fed cattle futures were higher with much support coming from strong cash prices.

Cotton cash and futures prices were higher as outside-market strength and cool, wet weather in the South provided favorable conditions for soil moisture absorption.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were higher as investors gained confidence from an improved weekly ethanol report. Soybean futures were higher, but South American supplies remain at high levels.

Wheat prices followed other crops higher and benefited from support in outside markets.

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed mixed news in drought conditions for the state with almost 57% of the state still in some stage of drought intensity, down about 1.31% percentage points from last week. Just over 27% of the state remains in severe, extreme, or exceptional drought, up 1.23 percentage points from last week and up 3.71 percentage points from three months ago. On the national level, drought conditions worsened slightly with about 54% of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, up 1.31 percentage points from last week.

Stock markets were higher as the dollar slowed its recent climb. The Federal Reserve yesterday made a statement in which it excluded a recent assurance that it would be “patient” when acting on interest rates, opening the possibility of raising short-term interest rates by midyear. Crude oil futures were $1.200 higher, retaking some of the ground lost in Tuesday’s six-year-low closing prices and ending a six-session losing streak.

Daily Market Summary Data for 3/19/2015

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