Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 4/21/15

Posted 9 years 221 days ago by

Feeder cattle steady to $4 lower; futures lower.
Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades lower; futures sharply lower; beef prices higher.
Cotton steady to lower.
Grains mixed; soybeans higher.
Crude oil higher; natural gas lower.
Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady to $3 lower. Feeder cattle futures settled $1.17 lower to close at $211.83 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 $259.14 and Select Grade at $252.20. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 110,000 head, up 1,000 from the previous week’s total and 7,000 from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is up 6.8%. Fed cattle futures were $4.45 lower, closing at $153.35 per cwt.

Cotton prices were steady to lower, with cash unchanged and futures down 0.25 cents. For the reporting period of April 13-19, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that cotton planting was slowed due to rainfall in the South East and Upper Coast.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were lower, with grain sorghum cash prices falling $0.22 from the previous day’s closing prices. Soybean futures prices were $3.50 higher. Thirty-seven percent of the planted Texas corn crop has emerged, down from 11% at the same point last year.

Wheat cash and futures prices were $0.06 and $0.04 higher, respectively. Fifty percent of the Texas wheat crop is in the heading stage, with 51% of the acreage in Good to Excellent condition.

Stock markets rebounded after investors saw losses on Thursday and Friday. Crude oil prices rose $0.640 to close at $56.38 per barrel, retaking almost two-thirds of the ground lost from the six-session gaining streak that ended Friday.

From the Weekly Recap:

AUSTIN – (April 20, 2015) For the week ending April 18, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady, with some prices fluctuating and ranging from $6 lower to $4 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Texas weekly direct feeder cattle sales were mostly weak to $4 lower. Wholesale beef values were higher, with Choice Grade gaining $1.28 to close at $257.79 per cwt and Select Grade rising $1.06 to $250.97 per cwt. Net export sales for April 3-9 were down three percent from the previous week. Export shipments were up six percent from the previous week.

Cotton cash prices were 1 cent lower than the previous week, closing at 612.13 cents per pound. May futures prices fell 1.77 cents last week to settle at 63.29 cents per pound. The USDA NASS Texas field office published noted for the reporting period of April 6-12 that field preparations for cotton were continuing in the Plains and West Texas. Five percent of cotton acreage has been planted. Net export cotton sales were 14.9 percent higher than the previous week’s sales. Shipments were down 54 percent from the previous week and 40 percent from the average.

Wheat cash prices lost 50 cents to close at $4.72 per bushel. Additionally, futures fell 50 cents to settle at $5.09 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that 22 percent of Texas wheat was in the heading stage. Eighty-eight percent of the Texas Winter Wheat crop remains in fair-to-excellent condition. Fifty-two percent of the wheat crop is in excellent or good condition. Net export sales for wheat were down 85 percent from the previous week and 80 percent from the prior four-week average. Shipments were two percent higher than the previous week but 10 percent lower than the average.

Texas corn prices were lower with cash prices up to $4.03 per bushel and futures prices rising 3 cents to $3.80 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that 22 percent of the planted Texas corn crop has emerged, up from eight percent at this point last year. Forty-six percent of Texas corn acreage has been planted, up nine percentage points from the previous week but down 11 percentage points from the same period last year. Corn export sales were down eight percent from the prior week but up 19 percent from the four-week average. Export shipments were 26 percent lower than last week and four percent lower than the average.

Warm temperatures and significant rainfall were experienced last week in much of East and Central Texas. Parts of South Texas received four or more inches of precipitation. Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed a slight improvement in drought conditions for the state, with just over 47 percent of Texas in some stage of drought intensity, down nearly two percentage points from last week. Additionally, 24.7 percent of the state remains in severe, extreme or exceptional drought. On the national level, drought conditions improved slightly, with nearly 59 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, down just over one percent from the previous 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 4/21/2015

If you are interested in receiving this daily report, please subscribe here.