By: NATHAN STUEDLE
St. Joseph Post
GRAINS:
July corn closed down 1 3/4 cents and December corn was down 2 cents. July soybeans closed up 5 3/4 cents and November soybeans were up 3 cents. July KC wheat closed down 4 3/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 5 cents, July Minneapolis wheat was down 2 1/4 cents.
Traders kept their fingers on the sell button for corn and wheat Thursday, driving prices further into multi-month lows for corn, and multi-year lows for wheat prices. Soybean futures were able to find some strength, trading higher on optimism regarding international trade and this weekend's upcoming meeting between the U.S. and China. The big news for Thursday was the announcement of a trade agreement between the U.S. and United Kingdom, of which many finer details are unknown but the early terms appear to be a win for U.S. agricultural interests, with Commerce Secretary Lutnick singling out ethanol and beef exports as examples of U.S. commodities which will enjoy larger market access as a result of the agreement. The agreement comes as the first following the April 2 tariff rollout and subsequent 90-day pause and certainly worked to further ease investors' minds as stocks pressed higher following the news, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average working towards a seventh higher session over the past ten days.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex traded higher upon recognizing the light movement in the North yesterday afternoon and higher for fed cash cattle prices. It's also helpful that boxed beef prices have seemed to find another wind of support as boxes have seen better demand this week than they have in recent weeks. There's been no more trade in the cash cattle market today, but some more trade is likely to develop ahead of the week's end, especially in the North, as movement there has been thin. So far this week, the bulk of transactions have been in Kansas and Texas, with a range of $218 to $221, mostly $219 to $220, $1 to $2 higher than last week's weighted averages. Very light scattered sales in Nebraska and Iowa have been marked at $353 to $360, mostly $353 to $355, $4 to $6 higher than last week's weighted averages.
The feeder cattle complex also traded higher as the market is pleased to see ample support stemming from the live cattle/fed cash cattle market this week. With the live cattle contracts trading higher, boxed beef prices seeing better demand, the fed cash cattle market trading higher, and prices still extremely high in the countryside for feeder cattle, the market honestly has all the support it could wish for.
With a less-than-supportive export sales report and lukewarm market fundamentals, it comes as no surprise that the lean hog market traded mixed again today. The losses currently seen in the pork cutout sector are mainly affecting the carcass prices because of the $5.31 decline in the rib and the $3.00 drop in the belly.
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