Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 6/02/15

Posted 9 years 179 days ago by

Feeder cattle steady to $4 higher, with instances of $5 to $10 higher; futures higher.
Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades higher; futures higher; beef prices mixed.
Cotton lower.
Grains higher; soybeans lower.
Crude oil lower; natural gas higher.
Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady to $4 higher, with instances of $5 to $10 higher. Feeder cattle futures settled $0.60 higher to close at $223.55 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash market was inactive on Monday. Wholesale boxed beef values were mixed, with Choice Grade settling at $254.28 per cwt and Select Grade at $244.62 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 114,000 head, up 112,000 from last week’s holiday-shortened total, but down 1,000 from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is down 1%. Fed cattle futures were $0.82 lower, closing at $153.15 per cwt.

Cotton prices were lower, with cash down 0.50 cents and futures 0.60 cents. For the reporting period of May 25-31, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that across the state planting of row crops was delayed due to rainfall; however, a break in the weather allowed for some cotton and corn planting in the High Plains, the Northern Low Plains, and the Edwards Plateau. Forty-six percent of cotton acreage has been planted.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were mostly higher, with corn cash gaining $0.05 and futures staying steady. Grain sorghum cash prices rose $0.01 to close at $6.65 per cwt. Soybean futures prices were $0.08 lower. Of the eighty-three percent of corn acreage that has been planted, 78 percent has emerged: 20 percentage points below the same time last year.

Wheat cash settled $0.15 higher and futures prices settled $0.37 higher to settle at $4.69 per bushel and $5.14 per bushel, respectively. Ninety-nine percent of the Texas wheat crop is in the heading stage, with 51% of wheat acreage in Good to Excellent condition.

Stock markets closed higher yesterday, rising before this week’s expected rush of economic news. Crude oil prices fell $0.100 to close at $60.20 per barrel, sustaining loses at the hands of a strengthening dollar.

From the Weekly Recap:
AUSTIN – (June 1, 2015) For the week ending May 30, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady, with instances of sales ranging from $3 lower to $4 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Texas weekly direct feeder cattle sales were steady to $4 higher. Wholesale beef values were higher, with Choice Grade losing $6.08 to close at $254.99 per cwt and Select Grade losing $5.37 to close at $243.83 per cwt. Net export sales for May 15-24 were up 11 percent from the previous week. Export shipments were down three percent from the previous week, and shipments primarily went to Japan, Mexico and South Korea.

Cotton cash prices were one cent higher than the previous week and closed at 62.38 cents per pound. July futures prices settled at 64.35 cents per pound, 1.04 cents higher than last week. For the reporting period of May 18-24, the USDA NASS Texas field office published that cotton planting was at 29 percent, which is 21 points behind the normal amount. This is due to the continued rainfall our state has received. Net export cotton sales were up 98 percent from the previous week’s sales. Shipments were down 14 percent from the previous week but up 33 percent from the average.

Wheat cash prices lost 25 cents to settle at $4.54 per bushel, while futures prices lost 48 cents to settle at $4.77 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that 98 percent of the Texas wheat crop is in the heading stage, with 56 percent of the acreage in good-to-excellent condition. Eighty-seven percent of the Texas Winter Wheat crop remains in fair-to-excellent condition. Net export sales for wheat were down 43 percent from the previous week and down noticeably from the prior four-week average. Shipments were 34 percent higher than the previous week but 27 percent lower than the average.

Texas corn prices were mixed with cash prices up to $3.76 per bushel and futures prices down to $3.52 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported 74 percent of the planted Texas corn crop has emerged, which is 13 percent below this same point last year. Seventy-seven percent of Texas corn acreage had been planted, which is up two percent from last week but down 19 percent from the same period last year. Corn export sales were down 19 percent from the previous week and eight percent from the four-week average. Export shipments were one percent lower than the previous week and seven percent lower than the average.

According to USDA NASS, thunderstorms moved across the state with many areas receiving measurable rainfall last week from trace amounts to upwards of 10 inches. Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed a significant improvement in drought conditions for the state, with just under 18 percent of Texas still experiencing some stage of drought intensity. Additionally, none of the state remains in severe, extreme or exceptional drought. On the national level, drought conditions improved slightly with more than 50 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought.

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

Daily Market Summary Data for 6/02/2015

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