Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary

Slaughter Cattle: Monday negotiated cash trade was mostly inactive on light demand in all feeding regions. 
The latest established market was last week with live purchases in the Southern Plains at 126.00. Last week in Nebraska, live purchases traded mostly at 127.00 with dressed purchases mostly at 204.00. In Colorado last week, live purchases traded from 127.00-128.00. In the Western Cornbelt for the previous week, live purchases traded mostly from 126.00-128.00 with dressed purchases mostly at 204.00.

Negotiated Sales: Confirmed: 243   Week Ago: 112   Year Ago: 1,332

Formula Purchases: Net - Dressed 
Head count priced today: 44,200 
Weighted avg weight:       852.00 
Weighted avg net price:   200.56

Alberta Beef Producers Daily Report: Alberta direct cattle sales last week saw light trade develop with weighted average steer and heifer prices closing the week at 164.50 and 164.25 respectively. Western Canadian fed slaughter volumes for the week ending March 3rd totaled just over 35,000 head, slaughter volumes are 9% larger than the same time last year and 13% larger than the five-year average. Looking at the non-fed market butcher cows traded steady to 0.50 higher through commercial auction facilities last week.

Livestock Slaughter under Federal Inspection: 
                             Cattle      Calves   Hogs        Sheep 
Monday  (est         113,000    2,000     460,000     9,000 
Week ago (est)     119,000    2,000     450,000     9,000 
Year ago (act)       114,000    2,000     439,000    10,000

Boxed Beef: Boxed beef cutout values steady on light to moderate demand and offerings. Select and Choice rib, chuck, and round cuts steady while loin cuts steady to weak. Beef trimmings unevenly steady on light demand and moderate offerings.

Cutout Values...            Choice        Select 
Current Cutout Values:    223.90         217.49 
Change from prior day:      -0.24           +0.23 
Choice/Select spread:         6.88

Futures Summary: 

April Live Cattle Futures: 121.55...-1.57

June Live Cattle Futures: 113.27...-1.03

August Live Cattle Futures: 110.82...-0.83

March Feeder Cattle Futures: 142.17...-0.35

April Feeder Cattle Futures: 142.57...-0.58

May Feeder Cattle Futures: 144.10...-0.55

CME Feeder Cattle Index: 143.34...-0.81

April Lean Hog Futures: 67.67...-0.18

National Grain Market Summary: Compared to Friday, cash bids for corn, wheat, and soybeans were mixed, 
while sorghum was higher.  Thursday's higher 2.225 billion bushel export estimate remains a subject for debate, but received support from USDA's news that 10.0 million bushels of U.S. corn were sold to unknown destinations and another 4.2 million bushels were sold to Japan, both for 2017-18.  While the trend is still up in May soybeans and meal, last week's bearish change in price momentum plus a heavy position of noncommercial net longs is a new bearish concern for soybean and meal prices.  May K.C. Wheat was up, still finding support from drought conditions in the western U.S. Plains. According to the National Weather Service in Dodge City, Kansas, the area has had no significant precipitation for 156 days -- roughly five months. The seven-day forecast has chances for moderate amounts in Nebraska, Missouri, and Arkansas, but the Texas Panhandle and western Kansas continue to miss out.

Kansas City Corn: 3.73...+0.01

Kansas City Soybeans: 9.98...+0.02

Kansas City Wheat: 5.12...+0.02

March Corn Futures: 3.8425...+0.0125

March Soybean Futures: 10.3325...+0.0400

March Wheat Futures: 4.8975...+0.0075

Nearby Crude Oil Futures Contract: 61.36...-0.68

Dow Jones Industrial Average: 25,178.61...-157.13

NASDAQ: 7,588.32...+27.51

U.S. Dollar Index: 89.88...-0.23