Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 3/31/15

Posted 9 years 242 days ago by

· Feeder cattle $3 to $7 higher, with instances of $10 higher, few auctions reporting; futures higher.
· Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades lower; futures lower; beef prices higher.
· Cotton lower.
· Grains mixed; soybeans slightly higher.
· Crude oil lower; natural gas higher.
· Stock markets sharply higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices $3 to $7 higher, with one location reporting sales $10 higher. Few auctions reporting. Feeder cattle futures settled $1.92 higher to close at $218.63 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash market had no reportable trade for Monday. Wholesale boxed beef values were higher, with Choice Grade settling at $250.80 and Select Grade at $247.62. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 109,000 head, up 5,000 from the previous week’s total, but down 7,000 from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is down 6%. Fed cattle futures were $0.20 lower, closing at $162.50 per cwt.

Cotton prices were lower, with cash down 0.25 cents and futures down 1.03 cents. For the reporting period of March 23-29, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that preparations for cotton planting were underway in many areas of the Edwards Plateau.

Corn and grain sorghum cash prices were lower, but corn futures gained $0.04 by close as investors awaited today’s USDA corn report. Soybean futures prices were slightly higher. Three percent of the planted Texas corn crop has emerged, down from seven percent at this point last year.

Wheat cash and futures prices were higher, with 91% of the Texas wheat crop in fair, good, or excellent condition.

Stock markets were sharply higher, but March’s low trade volume continued through yesterday. Crude oil prices fell $0.190 to close at $48.68 per barrel. The potential for a nuclear deal with Iran would set the stage for the toning down of sanctions against the Persian nation, possibly increasing the supply of oil on the world market.

From the Weekly Recap:

AUSTIN – (March 30, 2015) For the week ending March 28, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady, ranging from $2 to$15 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Texas weekly direct feeder cattle sales were mostly $2 to $7 higher with some instances of up to $10 higher. Fed cattle weekly cash sales were $2 higher at $165 per cwt, and wholesale beef values were higher with Choice Grade gaining $6.29 to $250.80 per cwt and Select Grade rising $3.43 to $246.71. Net export sales for March 13-19 were up 13 percent from the previous week. Export shipments were up three percent from the previous week.

Cotton cash prices were on par with previous week, closing at 60.13 cents per pound. May futures prices rose 1.2 percent last week to settle at 63.55 cents per pound. For the reporting period of March 16-22, the USDA NASS Texas field office noted that field preparations for cotton continued in many areas of the Northern Low Plains and the Upper Coast. Net export cotton sales were 26 percent lower than the previous week’s sales. Shipments were down two percent from the previous week but unchanged from the average.

Wheat cash and futures prices lost $0.73 and $0.17, respectively to close at $5.06 per bushel and $5.53 per bushel, respectively. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported progress in the winter wheat crop throughout the state. Ninety percent of the Texas winter wheat crop remains in fair-to-excellent condition. Fifty-five percent of the wheat crop is in excellent or good condition. Net export sales for wheat were up 43 percent from last week and 34 percent from the prior four-week average. Shipments were two percent lower than the previous week but 14 percent higher than the average.

Texas corn prices were higher with cash prices up to $4.26 per bushel and futures prices up to $3.91. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that 14 percent of Texas corn acreage had been planted, up three percentage points from last week, but down five percentage points from the same period last year. Corn planting was active in the Blacklands and South Central Texas. Corn export sales were up 48 percent from last week and 54 percent from the four-week average. Export shipments were 19 percent higher than last week and one percent higher than the average.

Significant precipitation was experienced in the San Antonio area and southward, as well as in portions of East Texas. Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed an improvement in drought conditions for the state with about 51 percent of the state still in some stage of drought intensity, down about six percentage points from last week. Almost 25 percent of the state remains in severe, extreme or exceptional drought, down more than two percentage points from last week but up almost two percent from three months ago. On the national level, drought conditions worsened slightly with about 56 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, up 1.45 percentage points from last week.

Additional information on agricultural weather, crop progress and agricultural markets can be found on the TDA Market News page.

Daily Market Summary Data for 3/31/2015

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