By: NATHAN STUEDLE
GRAINS:
May corn closed down 3 1/4 cents and July corn was down 3 cents. May soybeans closed up 3 1/4 cents and July soybeans were up 3 cents. May KC wheat closed down 4 3/4 cents, May Chicago wheat was down 5 3/4 cents, May Minneapolis wheat was down 5 3/4 cents.
Thursday's session was centered around the April release of the World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report from USDA. The report, as expected, generally featured few changes and was more or less neutral to corn and soybeans, but slightly more bearish than had been expected in regard to wheat. Corn and wheat futures fell despite recovering energy markets on Thursday as the ceasefire situation in the Middle East remains fragile, and ship movement through the Strait of Hormuz remains at a crawl. Soybean oil futures moved higher after gapping lower on Tuesday evening, which in turn positively influenced soybean futures. Equity markets were higher with the Dow Jones Industrial Average now having regained roughly half of its wartime losses posted through March.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex traded mixed for the bulk of Thursday's session, as the market desires to trade higher but needs to see some immediate fundamental support in the marketplace before the nearby contract will be able to do so confidently. And at this point in time, still no trade has developed in the cash market, but packer interest should begin to improve at any moment. And although packers were able to get some cattle committed to them last week, they'll still need to be at least moderately aggressive in this week's market to avoid being short bought in the weeks ahead.
Thursday's WASDE report showed a mixed outlook for the cattle and beef markets of 2026. Beef production for 2026 was decreased by 20 million pounds as harvest speeds are lighter than anticipated. Following last month's increase in the quarterly steer price projections, none of the quarters changed this month as prices are expected to remain steady with last month.
Meanwhile the feeder cattle complex traded mildly higher into Thursday's closing bell, as the market yearns to keep the bullish feeling alive. And luckily, although the market has yet to see what's going to develop in this week's fed cash cattle market, feeder cattle demand has been excellent in the countryside -- which is helping drive the contracts higher.
Although midday pork cutout values were higher, the lean hog complex continued to trade lower into Thursday's close. Traders simply desire to see steady and stable support and will need to see that develop before they'll likely lend the contracts any more support.
Thursday's WASDE report showed a mixed outlook for the hog and pork markets of 2026. Pork production for 2026 was decreased by 300 million pounds as slaughters have been lighter than originally anticipated and the latest Quarterly Hogs and Pigs report showed that farrowing intentions are lighter for the rest of the year. The quarterly price projections for hogs, unfortunately, saw a decrease in the second and third quarters of the year.