Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 12/17/15

Posted 8 years 347 days ago by

Feeder cattle auctions reported prices steady to $5 lower; futures lower.

Fed cattle cash trade active; futures lower; beef prices mixed.

Cotton lower.

Grains and soybeans higher.

Crude oil lower; natural gas lower.

Stock markets lower.

Texas feeder cattle auctions reported prices steady to $5 lower, with one instance of $12 to $15 higher. Feeder cattle futures were $3.45 lower, closing at $144.25 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was active today, losing $1.00 to close at $117.00 per cwt. Whole sale boxed beef values were mixed with choice grade losing $1.14 to close at $195.76 per cwt; select grade gained $0.63 to close at $185.54 per cwt. Fed cattle futures were $2.82 lower, closing at $117.15 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 452,000 head, up 5,000 from last week and 14,000 from last year’s total.

Cotton prices were lower with cash prices losing 0.25 cents to close at 61.62 cents per pound; March futures prices were down 0.26 cents to close at 62.99 cents per pound.

Corn prices were higher with cash prices gaining $0.04 to close at $3.78 per bushel; March corn futures prices gained $0.04 to close at $3.74 per bushel.

Wheat prices were higher with cash prices gaining $0.05 to close at $3.96 per bushel; March wheat futures prices were steady yesterday, remaining at $4.81 per bushel.

Stock markets were lower today, following behind a sharp drop in energy shares, ending a three day positive climb for U.S. stocks. Crude oil prices were lower, losing $0.57 to close at $34.95 per barrel.

Daily Market Summary Data 12/17/15

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This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed a slight worsening in drought conditions for the state, with only 3.18% of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity, up 0.35 percentage points from last week. Additionally, none of the state remains in severe, extreme, or exceptional drought. On the national level, drought conditions improved slightly, with 34.58% of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, down 0.57 percentage points from last week.