By NATHAN STUEDLE
St. Joseph Post
GRAINS:
May corn closed up 3 1/4 cents and July corn was up 2 cents. May soybeans closed up 6 1/4 cents and July soybeans were up 6 3/4 cents. May KC wheat closed down 14 1/2 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 3 3/4 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was down 7 1/2 cents.
For the week:
May corn closed down 11 cents and July corn was down 11 1/2 cents. May soybeans closed up 13 1/4 cents and July soybeans were up 15 3/4 cents. May KC wheat closed down 37 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 30 cents and May Minneapolis wheat was down 24 cents.
It was a turbulent session for U.S. ag markets to close the week as heavy pressure in the wheat complex drove both Chicago and Minneapolis contracts to new lows, while KC contracts came dangerously close as well. The plunge in wheat pulled corn and soybean markets down with the former trading to its lowest price of 2025 thus far on May futures. However, the bearish early price action attracted buyers to the corn and soy markets to erase early losses and close higher for the day. Strength in vegetable oil markets stemming from Thursday's report that President Trump had asked oil and biofuel groups to take the lead on determining policy for biofuel processing and potential tax credits also provided bullish influence on corn and soybean prices by late-morning Friday. Outside markets on Friday were mostly bearish, led by Personal Consumption Expenditure data (the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation reading), which came in hotter than expected notably on the core basis, which excludes energy and food prices due to volatility in those sectors. This combined with the latest University of Michigan consumer sentiment reading which fell for the third straight month, had stagflation concerns rampant again among investors and contributed to the Dow Jones Industrial Average's heavy loss on Friday.
LIVESTOCK:
After carving out yet another new contract high just yesterday afternoon in the spot June contract, the live cattle complex was twiddling its fingers, holding the market steady as traders wait to see what's going to amount in this week's cash market. The contracts all faded lower at the closing bell.
Once again following in the same suit as the live cattle complex, the feeder cattle contracts traded lower as traders anxiously wait to see what's going to develop in this week's fed cash cattle market. Demand in the countryside remains incredible in terms of buyers' willingness to bid calves and feeders higher and higher, so today's hesitancy was solely technical. All feeder contracts waned at the closing bell to finish lower.
After being able to fully absorb Thursday's supportive Quarterly Hogs and Pigs Report, the lean hog complex is traded higher early on in the session, thanks to the USDA's supportive report and thanks to the uptick in pork cutout prices this morning as well. The market was not able to keep this bullish tone through the day's end, with the near by contracts in the red and the far deferred contracts barely in the black at the closing bell.
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