Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary

Feeder cattle auctions mixed; futures mixed.

Formula trades higher; Beef prices down.

Cotton prices up.

Grains and soybeans down.

Milk futures up.

Crude oil up; Natural gas lower.

Stock markets up.

Cattle:

Texas feeder cattle auctions were mostly lower, with instances from $2 to $10 lower and one instance of $2 to $4 higher. January Feeder cattle futures were up 30 cents, closing at $146.32 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was not active today. December Fed cattle futures were lower, dropping 28 cents to close at $115.62 per cwt. Wholesale boxed beef values were down, with Choice grade losing $1.32 to close at $205.08 per cwt and Select grade losing 28 cents to close at $183.83 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 477,000, the same as last week’s total and up 18,000 from last year’s total. Year-to-date harvest is up 3.9%. 

Cotton:

Cotton prices were up, closing at 73 cents per pound and March cotton futures gaining 1.51 cents to close at 74.23 cents per pound. 

Corn and Grain Sorghum:

Corn prices were down with cash prices losing a penny, closing at $3.59 per bushel and December futures were steady at $3.39 per bushel. Grain Sorghum cash prices were down, losing 2 cents to close at $5.67 per cwt. 

Wheat:

Wheat prices were down with cash prices losing a nickel to close at $3.63 per bushel and December futures losing 3 cents to close at $4.03 per bushel.

Milk:

Milk prices were up, with December Class III milk gaining 9 cents to close at $15.51 per cwt.

Stock Markets and Crude Oil:

Stock markets were up, with all three major indexes showing gains. January Crude oil futures were up 73 cents to close at $56.69 per barrel.

Daily Market News Summary Data

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From Agri-Pulse:

Trump must avoid making US farmers the collateral damage of his protectionism, CEO says

Trump must avoid making American farmers part of the collateral damage of his protectionist policies, Syngenta CEO Erik Fyrwald told CNBC Wednesday

Since becoming U.S. president, Trump has touted an "America first" message of economic nationalism

"Keep in mind that it is a very important element of exports for the United States and you want to expand it and not contract it," Fyrwald said.

To watch a brief video of Fyrwald’s comments, click here.

President Donald Trump must avoid making American farmers part of the collateral damage of his protectionist policies, according to the CEO of a major agriculture firm.

"Agriculture is one of the real bright spots for trade for the United States and the American farmers are extremely productive. So I think the Trump administration understands that this is an area where they want to promote more trade," Syngenta CEO Erik Fyrwald told CNBC Wednesday.

Since becoming U.S. president, Trump has touted an "America first" message of economic nationalism. In recent months, the former New York businessman has enacted some sweeping changes to U.S. trade policies, threatened to impose steep tariffs on imports and proposed hefty tax cuts.

However, while speaking on the sidelines of Fortune's Brainstorm Tech International conference in Guangzhou, China, Syngenta's Fyrwald said he believed Trump understood the importance of encouraging agricultural trade internationally.

When asked whether his message to the Trump administration would be to tread carefully in order to avoid the possibility of farmers becoming collateral damage, Fyrwald replied: "Yes."

"And keep in mind that it is a very important element of exports for the United States and you want to expand it and not contract it. It's good for the globe to expand trade and agricultural trade is one of those critical pieces," he added.