Grains:
December corn closed up 2 3/4 cents and March corn was up 2 1/2 cents. November soybeans closed down 1/4 cents and January soybeans were down 1 1/4 cents. December KC wheat closed down 1 1/2 cents, December Chicago wheat was down 2 1/2 cents, December MIAX Minneapolis wheat was down 3 1/4 cents.
Grain prices traded both sides of even on Monday as traders await more field-level reports as U.S. harvesting efforts continue to ramp up into mid-October. Soybean futures briefly overcame overnight lows to trade higher before eventually falling back toward the bottom end of the range by the close. Corn and wheat futures were also mixed, with the former finding some strength on a surprising release of weekly export inspections from USDA which reaffirmed the very strong pace of export demand for U.S. corn.
Livestock:
The livestock complex is off to a stronger start Monday morning as traders seem willing and motivated to push the contracts higher. It is helping matters that both pork cutout values and boxed beef prices are higher.
The live cattle futures are off to a stronger start for the week as the market takes the positive close of last Friday and continues to run with the support available in the marketplace. Last week Northern dressed trade began to develop on Tuesday and saw small increments of cattle trade throughout the remainder of the week.
The feeder cattle complex is again following the same direction as the live cattle contracts as its market is trading higher too. What could become problematic for the market moving forward is the nearby contracts are reaching resistance levels which could pressure traders to turn the contracts lower unless something substantial develops fundamentally. October is commonly referred to as "dead calf month" at sale barns as the severe temperature swings and the stressful conditions of weaning can be too much for calves. So mixed demand could remain the theme at sales barns for the next couple of week.
It seems as though the support established in the lean hog complex is holding true again this week as the contracts are continuing to trade higher. It is helpful again Monday morning that pork cutout values are higher with demand being robustly strong as the only cut trading lower is the picnic, which is down $1.06.
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