Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary

Feeder cattle auctions steady to lower; futures mixed.

Formula trades lower; Beef prices up.

Cotton prices mixed.

Grains and soybeans mixed.

Milk futures up.

Crude oil up; Natural gas lower.

Stock markets down.

Cattle:

Texas feeder cattle auctions showed steady to lower prices, with instances from steady to $4 lower. January Feeder cattle futures were down $2.13, closing at $147.82 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was not active today. December Fed cattle futures were higher, gaining 5 cents to close at $116.42 per cwt. Wholesale boxed beef values were up, with Choice grade gaining 89 cents to close at $209.08 per cwt and Select grade gaining $1.09 to close at $186.63 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 239,000, up 1,000 from last week’s total and up 10,000 from last year’s total. Year-to-date harvest is up 4.37%. 

Cotton:

Cotton prices were steady, closing at 71.50 cents per pound and December cotton futures losing .07 cents to close at 74.96 cents per pound. 

Corn and Grain Sorghum:

Corn prices were up with cash prices gaining a penny, closing at $3.61 per bushel and December futures steady to close at $3.40 per bushel. Grain Sorghum cash prices were steady, closing at $5.71 per cwt. 

Wheat:

Wheat prices were down with cash prices losing 2 cents to close at $3.74 per bushel and December futures losing 6 cents to close at $4.14 per bushel.

Milk:

Milk prices were up a nickel, with December Class III milk closing at $15.42 per cwt.

Stock Markets and Crude Oil:

Stock markets were down, with all three major indexes showing losses. January Crude oil futures were up 15 cents to close at $57.62 per barrel.

Daily Market News Summary Data

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From weekly recap:

AUSTIN – (Dec. 4, 2017) For the shortened holiday week ending Dec. 2, 2017, Texas feeder cattle auctions were uneven, reporting prices mostly steady to $4 higher, with instances of steady to $5-$7 lower. Texas Weekly Direct reported prices $1 to $5 higher. Wholesale Beef values were down at the end of the week, with Choice Grade losing $5.00 to close at $205.99 per hundredweight (cwt) and Select Grade losing $3.94 to end at $183.61 per cwt. Fed cattle cash prices traded $1 lower at $118.00 per cwt as trade and demand were moderate in the Texas panhandle. For the time period of Nov. 17-23 exporters reported net sales of 13,800 metric tons (MT) for 2017, where were up 49 percent from the previous week and 7 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Japan, South Korea and Mexico. Exports of 14,300 MT were down 18 percent from the previous week and 13 percent from the prior 4-week average. The primary destinations were Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Cotton prices were higher at the close of last week, with cash prices gaining 1.50 to close at 71.75 cents per pound and December futures gaining 3.2 cents to end at 75.43 cents per bushel. Net sales of 276,500 running bales for 2017/2018, down 23 percent from the previous week and 14 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for Pakistan, China  and Turkey.

Wheat prices were higher at the close of last week, with cash prices gaining 13 cents to close at $3.79 per bushel and December futures gaining 6 cents to close at $4.21 per bushel. Net sales totaled 184,400 MT for delivery in marketing year 2017/2018, which were down 8 percent from the previous week and 59 percent from the prior 4-week average.  Increases were for Colombia, Japan and the Philippines. Exports of 337,500 MT were up 78 percent from the previous week and 16 percent from the prior 4-week average.  The primary destinations were the Philippines, Japan and Colombia.

Corn prices were higher at the close of last week, with cash prices gaining 6 cents to close at $3.62 per bushel and December futures gaining 3 cents to close at $3.45 per bushel. Net sales of 599,200 MT for 2017/2018 were down 45 percent from the previous week and 54 percent from the prior 4-week average.  Increases were reported for Mexico, Japan and South Korea. Exports of 651,200 MT were primarily to Mexico, Japan and Peru.

Grain sorghum cash prices were higher at the close of last week, gaining 9 cents to end at $5.69 per cwt. Net sales of 328,000 MT for 2017/2018 – a marketing-year high – were up 2 percent from the previous week and 26 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for China and unknown destinations. Exports of 217,100 MT – a marketing-year high – were up noticeably from the previous week and from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were China, Japan and Mexico.

Milk prices were lower at the close of last week, with December Class III milk futures gaining 11 cents to end the week at $15.32 per cwt.

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed slightly moderate drought conditions for the state, with 71.27 percent of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity, up 11.29 percentage points from last week. On the national level, drought conditions worsened, with 42.66 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, up 5.84 percentage points from last week.