Texas Daily Ag Market News Summary 3/18/15

Posted 9 years 41 days ago by

· Feeder cattle steady to $4 higher; futures lower.
· Fed cattle cash trade inactive; formula trades higher; futures higher; beef prices mixed.
· Cotton lower.
· Grains and soybeans mostly lower.
· Crude oil lower; natural gas higher.
· Stock markets mixed.

Texas feeder cattle auctions quoted prices steady to $4 higher. Feeder cattle futures were lower with little fresh news. The Texas fed cattle cash trade remained inactive on Tuesday. Wholesale boxed beef values were mixed with Choice grade up to $247.04 per hundredweight (cwt) and Select grade lower at $244.79 per cwt. Estimated cattle harvest to date this week totaled 220,000 head, up 1,000 from last week, but down 14,000 from a year ago. Year-to-date harvest is down 6%. Fed cattle futures were higher with gains in nearby contracts.

Cotton prices were lower on Tuesday with cash falling 0.25 cents and futures falling 0.28 cents to settle at 57.38 cents per pound and 60.21 cents per pound, respectively. U.S. cotton consumption in 2014 declined by about 17.3 million bales.

Corn and grain sorghum prices were lower with corn cash and futures prices each $0.08 lower. Trade is expected to remain turbulent leading up to the release of USDA’s March acreage report. Soybean prices fell $0.14 and will face the same choppy trade due to the aforementioned acreage report.

Wheat prices were lower, but chances of rain in the Southern Plains this week lift hopes for moisture for the winter wheat crop.

Stock markets were mixed yesterday as investors awaited today’s policy statement by the Federal Reserve. The release comes at the close of a two-day monetary policy meeting. Crude oil prices fell $0.420 to settle at $43.46 per barrel, the lowest closing price since March 11, 2009.

Daily Market Summary Data for 3/18/2015

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