Texas Daily Ag Market News Summay 12/20/16

Posted 7 years 342 days ago by

Feeder cattle auction reported steady prices; Futures lower.

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

Cotton futures lower.

Grains and soybeans lower.

Milk futures lower.

Crude oil higher; Natural gas lower.

Stock markets higher.

Texas feeder cattle auctions reported steady prices. January Feeder cattle futures were 87 cents lower, closing at $130.00 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was inactive today. December Fed cattle futures were 15 cents higher, closing at $112.10 per cwt. Wholesale boxed beef values were higher, with Choice grade gaining $2.24 to close at $197.63 per cwt and Select grade gaining 62 cents to close at $183.67 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 226,000 on par with last week’s total and from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is steady.

Cotton prices were uneven with cash prices remaining at 68.75 cents per pound and March futures losing 0.23 cents to close at 69.34 cents per pound.

Corn prices were lower with cash and March futures both losing three cents to close at $3.39 per bushel and $3.50 per bushel, respectively. Grain Sorghum cash prices were six cents lower, closing at $5.17 per cwt.

Wheat prices were lower with cash prices and March futures both losing a penny to close at $3.03 per bushel and $4.13 per bushel, respectively.

Milk prices were lower with December Class III futures losing a penny to close at $17.33 per cwt.

Stock markets were higher today, pushing the Dow Jones to a new all-time high, and continuing a 6-week rally after the presidential election. January Crude oil futures picked up 11 cents to close at $52.23 per barrel. Crude oil prices retreated from earlier gains, but still ended the day positively, after Libya’s National Oil Co. said it has reopened an oil pipeline that has the potential to supply about 270,000 barrels a day, which would essentially work to cancel out a quarter of the production cutting agreement from OPEC and other oil producing nations.

Daily Market News Summary Data 12/20/16

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From Agri-Pulse:

WASHINGTON, Dec. 16, 2016 - The FDA is amending a regulation to allow more fruits and vegetables to carry a health claim that they reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

To make a claim regarding the relationship between dietary saturated fat and cholesterol and the risk of coronary heart disease, FDA says a food must typically, among other requirements, contain a certain amount of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber and meet the definitions of a “low saturated fat,” “low fat” and “low cholesterol” food.

Some fruits and vegetables had been ineligible to bear the claim, the agency said in a release, because they do not meet the health claim requirements for containing a minimum amount of certain nutrients and/or they do not meet the definition of a “low fat” food.

For example, grapes, plums, beets, and cucumbers do not contain the threshold levels of vitamin A, vitamin C, iron, calcium, protein, or fiber and avocados do not meet the requirement for “low fat.”

The American Heart Association (AHA) in 2012 submitted a citizen petition asking the FDA to amend the existing regulation about health claims and the relationship between dietary saturated fat and cholesterol and risk of CHD. The interim final rule announced today - allowing fruits and vegetables ot make a claim that they reduced the risk of coronary heart disease - is the agency's response to that petition. The FDA is not amending the health claim requirements for frozen or canned vegetables at this time, but it is inviting comment on the issue.

The Western Growers Association, which represents fruit and vegetable producers, applauded the FDA action, saying the rule will allow “additional opportunities for fresh produce to bear claims about the relationship between dietary saturated fat and cholesterol and risk of Coronary heart disease.

“Western Growers has long advocated that a diet composed of the regular and generous consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, including tree nuts, is essential to a healthy lifestyle. We appreciate the American Heart Association's work to encourage more consumption of fresh produce for a healthy heart.”

This interim final rule is effective immediately and has a 75-day comment period.