Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 8/25/15

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted steady prices with instances of $5 lower. Feeder cattle futures settled $1.17 lower to close at $210.83 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash market was inactive yesterday. Wholesale boxed beef values were lower, with Choice Grade settling $0.59 lower at $244.31 per cwt and Select Grade settling $0.90 lower at $233.98 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 109,000 head, up 4,000 from last week’s total, but down 5,000 from last year. Year-to-date harvest is down 4.4%. Fed cattle futures were $1.58 lower, closing at $143.85 per cwt.

Cotton prices were lower yesterday, with cash and futures prices both losing 3.00 cents per pound settling at 61.88 cents per pound and 64.64 cents per pound, respectively. For the reporting period of August 17-23, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated recent weather conditions aided cotton development in areas of the High and Low Plains. Ninety-seven percent of cotton acreage was in the squaring, up two percentage points from the previous week, but down three percentage points from last year.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were mixed, with corn cash prices losing $0.05 and futures prices gaining $0.04, settling at $3.89 per bushel and $3.69 per bushel, respectively. Grain sorghum cash prices gained $0.02 to close at $6.41 per cwt. Soybean futures prices were down $0.12, closing at $8.93 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that 100 percent of the Texas corn crop is in the silking stage, with 56% of corn acreage in Good to Excellent condition.

Wheat cash prices gained $0.02 and futures prices gained $0.05, settling at $4.18 per bushel and $4.76 per bushel, respectively. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that Producers applied fertilizer and prepared soils in preparation for seeding of small grains.

Stock markets closed lower yesterday, as investors scrambled to sell stock in order to protect from further loses. Crude oil prices dropped $2.21 to close at $38.24 per barrel, reaching a fresh new six-year low over concern about a growing supply of crude and fear about reduced Chinese demand.

From weekly recap:

TDA Market Recap, Aug. 25, 2015

Contact: Linda Ryan | (512) 463-7664 | (800) TELL-TDA

AUSTIN – (Aug. 25, 2015) For the week ending Aug. 22, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady, with instances of sales ranging from $8 lower to $10 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Texas weekly direct feeder cattle sales were fully steady. Wholesale beef values were higher, with Choice Grade gaining $1.74 to close at $246.46 per cwt and Select Grade gaining $0.14 to close at $235.58 per cwt. Net export sales totaling 8,300 metric tons (MT) for Aug. 7 – 13 were down 32 percent from the previous week. Export shipments of 9,900 MT were down four percent from the previous week. Shipments primarily went to Japan, South Korea and Mexico.

Cotton cash prices were 0.75 cents higher than the previous week and closed at 61.88 cents per pound. October futures prices settled at 67.66 cents per pound, 0.34 cents lower than last week. For the reporting period of Aug. 10 – 16, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that 95 percent of cotton acreage is in the squaring stage, up one percentage point from the previous week but down four percentage points from last year. Net export cotton sales totaled 110,600 bales. The primary destinations were Vietnam, Mexico and Turkey.

Wheat cash prices lost $0.16 and futures prices lost $0.11 to settle at $4.23 per bushel and $4.81 per bushel, respectively. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that preparations continued for winter wheat and small grain seedings across the state. Net export sales for wheat were 314,000 MT, with increased purchases reported for Japan, Yemen and Nigeria.

Texas corn prices were higher, with cash prices going up to $3.96 per bushel and futures prices up to $3.71 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported 98 percent of the Texas corn crop is in the silking stage, with 56 percent of corn acreage in good to excellent condition. Corn export sales were 282,700 MT, which is up noticeably from the previous week and 84 percent from the prior four-week average. Export shipments of 918,100 MT were up nine percent from the previous week but 10 percent lower from the previous four-week average.

This week’s Drought Monitor for Texas showed a worsening of drought conditions for the state, with approximately 42 percent of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity. Additionally, none of the state remains in extreme or exceptional drought. On the national level, drought conditions also worsened, with approximately 45 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 8/25/2015

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