Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary

Feeder cattle auctions steady to higher; futures up.

Formula trades lower; Beef prices up.

Cotton prices up.

Grains and soybeans mixed.

Milk futures down.

Crude oil down; Natural gas down.

Stock markets down.

Cattle:

Texas feeder cattle auctions reported steady to $4 higher. January Feeder cattle futures were up $1.30, closing at $149.17 per hundredweight (cwt). The Texas fed cattle cash trade was not active today. February Live cattle futures were higher, gaining 98 cents to close at $121.95 per cwt. Wholesale boxed beef values were up, with Choice grade gaining 39 cents to close at $205.69 per cwt and Select grade gaining $1.26 to close at $200.87 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest for the week totaled 471,000, down 1,000 from last week and up 60,000 from last year’s total. Year-to-date harvest is up 14.6%. 

Cotton:

Cotton prices were up, closing at 77.25 cents per pound and March cotton futures closing at 82.63 cents per pound.

Corn and Grain Sorghum:

Corn prices were down a penny, closing at $3.64 per bushel and March corn futures were also down a penny, closing at $3.52 per bushel. Grain sorghum was down 3 cents to close at $5.78 per cwt.

Wheat:

Wheat was up, gaining 3 cents to close at $3.82 per bushel and March wheat futures gained 3 cents, closing at $4.30 per bushel.

Milk:

Milk prices were down 1 cent, with January Class III milk futures closing at $13.83 per cwt.

Stock Markets and Crude Oil:

Stock markets were up, with all three major indexes showing gains. February Crude oil futures were down 2 cents to close at $63.95 per barrel.

Daily Market News Summary Data

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From weekly recap:

AUSTIN – (Jan. 17, 2018) For the week ending Jan. 13, 2018, Texas feeder cattle auctions reported mixed prices, with prices ranging from $13 higher per hundredweight (cwt) to $10 lower. Texas Weekly Direct reported trade activity as fairly active with moderate to good demand and prices mostly $1 to $3 lower and as much as $5 lower. Fed cattle cash prices traded $1.50 to $2 lower at $120.00 per cwt. Wholesale Beef values were lower than the previous week, with Choice Grade losing $1.28 to close at $208.23 per cwt and Select Grade losing 68 cents to end at $201.64 per cwt. For the time period of Dec. 29 – January 4, exporters reported net sales of 14,700 metric tons (MT) for 2018. Increases were reported for Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and Mexico. Accumulated exports for 2017 totaled 760,700 MT, up 11 percent from the 682,500 MT reported in 2016.

Cotton prices were mixed, with cash prices losing 2.75 cents to close at 77.50 cents per pound and March futures gaining 3.67 cents to end at 81.68 cents per bushel. Net sales of 274,500 running bales (RB) were reported for 2017/2018, up 42 percent from the previous week and 16 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for India, Turkey, Mexico and Vietnam. Exports of 8,500 RB were down 18 percent from the previous week and 43 percent from the prior 4-week average.  The primary destinations were China, India, Indonesia and Thailand.

Wheat prices were down at the close of last week, with cash prices losing 12 cents to close at $3.78 per bushel and March futures dropping 12 cents to close at $4.26 per bushel. Net sales totaled 71,500 MT for delivery in marketing year 2017/2018 – a marketing year low – were down 45 percent from the previous week and 86 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were for the Taiwan, Iraq, Nigeria and the Republic of South Africa. Exports of 288,200 MT were up 26 percent from the previous week, but down 29 percent from the prior 4-week average.  The primary destinations were Mexico, Iraq, Nigeria and Japan.

Corn prices were down at the close of last week, with cash prices losing 1 cent to close at $3.59 per bushel and March futures losing 5 cents to close at $3.46 per bushel. Net sales of 437,700 MT for 2017/2018 were up noticeably from the previous week, but down 54 percent from the prior 4-week average.  Increases were reported for Japan, Colombia, Taiwan and Vietnam. Exports of 889,800 MT were up 35 percent from the previous week and 38 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were primarily to Mexico, Colombia, Peru and South Korea.

Grain sorghum cash prices were lower at the close of last week, losing 8 cents to close at $5.68 per cwt. Net sales of 170,700 MT for 2017/2018 were up noticeably from the previous week, but down 40 percent from the prior 4-week average. Increases were reported for China. Exports of 53,700 MT were down 29 percent from the previous week and 61 percent from the prior 4-week average. The destinations were China and Mexico.

Milk prices were lower at the close of last week, with January Class III milk futures closing to end the week at $13.76 per cwt.

This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed slightly abnormally dry conditions for the state, with 72.92 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 57.80 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, up 2.26 percentage points from last week.