Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 9/15/15

Posted 9 years 74 days ago by

Feeder cattle steady to $5 lower; futures lower.
Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades higher; futures lower; beef prices lower.
Cotton lower.
Grains and soybeans higher.
Crude oil higher; natural gas lower.
Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady to $5 lower. Feeder cattle futures settled $1.82 lower to close at $198.33 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was inactive yesterday. Wholesale boxed beef values were lower, with Choice Grade settling at $233.49 per cwt and Select Grade at $225.01 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 225,000 head, up 109,000 from last week’s total and down 4,000 from time last year. Year-to-date harvest is down 1.7%. Fed cattle futures were lower, closing at $140.60 per cwt.

Cotton prices were lower, with cash prices losing 0.50 cents to settle at 59.88 cents per pound, and futures prices losing 0.69 cents to settle at 62.82 cents per pound. For the reporting period of September 7 - 13, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated Cotton harvest progressed in southern parts of the state, although some delays were experienced in the Coastal Bend and Upper Coast due to heavy rains. Eight percent of the state’s cotton had been harvested, 7 points behind last year and 4 points behind normal. Producers in the Northern High Plains began curtailing irrigation in anticipation of harvest.

Corn prices were higher, with corn cash prices gaining $0.03 and futures prices gaining $0.12, settling at $4.03 per bushel and $3.91 per bushel, respectively. Grain sorghum cash prices were higher gaining $0.01 to close at $6.17 per cwt. Soybean futures prices were $0.06 higher, closing at $8.89 per bushel. USDA NASS Texas field office reported that the Corn and Soybean harvest continued in areas of the Blacklands, South Central and South Texas, bringing corn harvest to 53 percent, 6 points behind last year and 5 points behind normal.

Wheat cash prices gained $0.11 to settle at $4.12 per bushel and futures prices gained $0.22 to settle at $4.93 per bushel. USDA NASS Texas field office reported that Wheat seeding was underway in the Northern High Plains.

Stock markets closed higher yesterday, reaching a two-week high, before the announcement from the Federal Reserve on interest rates. Crude oil prices gained $0.59 to close at $44.59 per barrel.

Daily Market Data 9/15/15

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From Weekly Recap:

AUSTIN – (Sept. 15, 2015) For the week ending Sept. 12, 2015, most Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices $2 to $15 higher. However, one auction did note prices up to $7 lower per hundredweight (cwt). Wholesale beef values were lower, with Choice Grade losing $2.97 to close at $239.06 per cwt and Select Grade losing $1.37 to close at $226.73 per cwt. Net export sales totaling 10,500 metric tons (MT) for Aug. 28 – Sept. 3 were down 20 percent from the previous week. Export shipments of 9,300 MT were down 14 percent from the previous week. Shipments primarily went to Japan, Mexico and Hong Kong.

Cotton cash prices were 0.50 cents higher than the previous week and closed at 60.88 cents per pound. October futures prices settled at 64.09 cents per pound, 0.61 cents higher than last week. Net export cotton sales totaled 83,400 bales. The primary destinations were South Korea, Mexico and Turkey.

Wheat cash and futures prices gained $0.04 and $0.05 to settle at $4.01 per bushel and $4.59 per bushel, respectively. Net exports for wheat were 290,400 MT, with increased purchases reported for Vietnam, Guatemala and Indonesia.

Texas corn prices were higher, with cash prices gaining $0.12 and futures prices gaining $0.13 to settle at $3.99 and $3.75 per bushel, respectively. Corn export sales were 411,200 MT. Export shipments were 640,900 MT, and the primary destinations were Japan, Mexico and Colombia.

This week’s Drought Monitor for Texas showed a worsening of drought conditions for the state, with approximately 47 percent of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity. On the national level, drought conditions also worsened, with nearly 46 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.