Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 06/07/16

Posted 8 years 173 days ago by

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

Fed cattle cash trade inactive; Formula trades higher; Futures higher; Beef prices higher.

Cotton higher.

Grains and Soybeans higher.

Milk futures lower.

Crude oil higher; Natural gas higher.

Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions reported prices $3 to $5 higher. Feeder cattle futures were $1.23 lower, closing at $145.52 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was inactive today. Whole sale boxed beef values were not reported due to technical difficulties. Fed cattle futures were $1.23 lower, closing at $120.77 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 113,000 head up 110,000 from last week’s total and 3,000 from last year’s total. For the time period of May 30 – June 5 the USDA NASS Field Office reported that livestock remains in good condition. Pastures condition varied greatly throughout the state, depending on recent rainfall. In many areas, grasses continued to improve providing good grazing conditions. Pastures in the Blacklands and East Texas were saturated, delaying hay harvest and weed control.

Cotton prices were higher with cash prices gaining 0.25 cents to close at 62.62 cents per pound and July futures gaining 0.30 cents to close at 65.85 cents per pound. The USDA NASS Field Office reported that cotton planting was delayed in areas of the Low Plains due to wet conditions. Cotton progress was slowed by cool, wet conditions in South Central Texas and the Upper Coast

Corn prices were mixed with cash prices remaining at $4.23 per bushel and July corn futures gaining $0.01 to close at $4.28 per bushel. Grain Sorghum cash prices were steady to remain at $6.49 per cwt. The USDA NASS Field Office reported that corn and sorghum were in good condition in areas of Southeast Texas.

Wheat prices were higher with cash and July futures both gaining $0.04 to close at $4.02 and $4.85 per bushel, respectively. The USDA NASS Field Office reported that heavy rains continued to delay wheat harvest across the state. Wheat producers reported hail and wind damage to wheat in areas of the Southern Low Plains. Winter wheat had been grazed out by livestock in areas of the Edwards Plateau.

Milk prices were lower with June Class III Milk futures losing $0.09 to close at $13.13 per cwt.

Stock Markets were higher today, lifted by oils return to over $50 a barrel. Crude oil prices were higher, with July crude oil futures gaining $0.67 to close at $50.36 per barrel.

Daily Market Summary Data 06/07/16

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From Agri-Pulse:

WASHINGTON, June 6, 2016 - Cotton producers will receive $300 million in one-time ginning-assistance payments to help cope with the global downturn in prices for the commodity.

“The Cotton Ginning Cost Share program will offer meaningful, timely and targeted assistance to cotton growers to help with their anticipated ginning costs and to facilitate marketing,” said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

The payments will be based on a producer's 2015 cotton acreage, multiplied by 40 percent of the average regional ginning cost. Vilsack said the average payment would be about 60 percent higher than producers received in a one-year cotton transition payment under the 2014 farm bill. The Farm Service Agency already has data for the vast majority of producers.

Cotton producers have been pushing for a longer-term form of assistance by making cottonseed eligible for payments under the Price Loss Coverage program, but Vilsack has said he doesn't have the legal authority to do so.

Vilsack said the one-time ginning-assistance program “shows USDA continues to stand with America's cotton producers and our rural communities.”

Sign-up for the program will run from June 20 through Aug. 5. Payments are expected to begin in July.

The National Cotton Council said the payment rate would vary as follows: $47.44 an acre for the Southeast (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia); $56.26 an acre for the Mid-South (Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi and Tennessee); $36.97 an acre for the Southwest (Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas); and $97.41 an acre for the West (Arizona, California and New Mexico).

The program has the same eligibility requirements and payment rules as the cotton transition payments, including a $40,000 per producer payment limit and a requirement to be actively engaged in farming and an adjusted gross income limit of $900,000.

Cotton prices have fallen sharply this year after China dropped its strategy of stockpiling the fiber to prop up prices paid to domestic farmers.

The world price this year has averaged 67.5 cents per pound, down from 90.4 cents in 2013, according to the Cotton Council. The average price earned by U.S. farmers this year is about 56.6 cents per pound.

USDA expects cotton production to increase 15 percent this year to 14.8 million bales because of an increase in planted acreage.

Senate Agriculture Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., welcomed USDA's move.

“Secretary Vilsack has determined that the department has the authority to offer a cost share program for cotton producers who are facing tough conditions in the farm economy,” Roberts said. “I appreciate the Secretary's willingness to engage with cotton producers, ginners, and others from this sector.”

The American Farm Bureau Federation also applauded Vilsack.

“Farm Bureau commends Secretary Vilsack's decision to provide a temporary Agriculture Department program to help U.S. cotton farmers defray processing costs, giving them hope as they face some of the most difficult market conditions in more than a decade,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said in a statement.

“We are especially appreciative that Secretary Vilsack took the time to work with us, the National Cotton Council and others to arrive at this special, one-time arrangement without requiring legislative action. This is a clear example of what we can accomplish when we work together. Our cotton farmers and the rural businesses they partner with will be better off because USDA took action to address a serious market downturn in their industry.”