By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
December corn closed up 7 3/4 cents per bushel at $4.11 3/4 and March corn was up 7 3/4 cents at $4.26 3/4. November soybeans closed up 20 cents at $10.56 0/1 and January soybeans were up 18 1/2 cents at $10.73 3/4. December KC wheat closed up 2 3/4 cents at $5.26, December Chicago wheat was up 1 1/2 cents at $5.29 3/4 and December Minneapolis wheat was up 0.02 cents at $5.9100.
Both the corn and soy markets surged Thursday as the next 10 days holds a dry outlook for the Eastern Corn Belt and crop tour participants are finding diseases more prevalent than thought. Soybean oil rallied ahead of what is expected to be a decision on small refinery exemptions soon. Wheat markets were along for the ride in two-sided trade but in the end finished mixed to slightly higher.
LIVESTOCK:
Following Wednesday's massive surge in the futures complex, the live cattle complex traded mostly steady, seeming unsure of what it should do next. It remains incredibly supportive that boxed beef prices are continuing to trend higher, but the market has yet to really see what this week's trend is going to be in the fed cash cattle complex. There's been a light movement in the North at $245, which is steady to a tick higher than last week's weighted average, but the market hasn't seen enough trade, or any trade in the South, to say that it confidently knows what this week's trend is going to be. Regardless, it's anticipated that prices will trade at least steady if not a bit higher again this week simply because feedlot managers possess enough leverage in the marketplace to be able to roll their showlists over if prices aren't what they want. From a technical standpoint, it's impressive to see that futures contracts are trading mostly steady as traders want to support the complex more but also don't want to overdo anything.
The feeder cattle complex continued to trade mostly higher into Thursday's close after a rough start to the session, as traders are seeing plenty of support. Support from feeder cattle sales in the countryside, support from strong boxed beef demand, support from the light movement that the fed cash cattle complex has seen already this week, and, as of this point this week, total support from traders.
Although pork cutout values were down slightly, and the week's export report wasn't overly supportive, the lean hog complex traded mostly higher into Thursday's closing bell as traders have seemed to find some footing in the futures complex. The bulk of this week's cash hog trade is likely done, so any fundamental support is going to need to come from cutout values, and this morning the carcass price was down slightly.