Grains:
September corn closed down 12 1/2 cents and December corn was down 13 1/2 cents. August soybeans closed down 39 1/2 cents and November soybeans were down 39 3/4 cents. September KC wheat closed down 16 1/4 cents, September Chicago wheat was down 18 cents, September MIAX Minneapolis wheat was down 8 cents.
Row-crop futures moved drastically lower to start the week, as what began as an energy inspired risk-off session snowballed into a rapid turn in momentum as long-holders in grains and oilseeds looked to secure profits ahead of month end. When futures rally as much as they have in the past two weeks on quickly changing factors such as geopolitics and weather, it is only natural to expect days like Monday to occur -- with traders displaying heightened caution of being caught on the wrong side of a long-position given the seasonal tendencies of prices in late summer. As mentioned, outside energies led the selloff with a gap lower on Sunday in response to the U.S. canceling a planned round of attacks against Iran. There have been reports in recent days of mediators from Pakistan making some progress on getting negotiations between the U.S. and Iran restarted. Meanwhile, the war in the Black Sea shows fewer clear signs of de-escalation with reports of ship attacks through the weekend.
Livestock:
Last Friday hit like a Mack truck. From having to absorb the monthly Cattle on Feed report, to seeing the bi-annual Cattle inventory report released, to late in the day being surprised to see an announcement come from U.S. Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins that the U.S. will begin to slowly reopen the border to Mexican cattle imports on Aug. 24th -- it was a whirlwind of a day. And given that today (Monday) is the first time traders have had the chance to react to any of those reports/announcements, it comes as no real surprise the live cattle market was trading lower.
The feeder cattle complex was taking last Friday's developments the hardest as its contracts were trading anywhere from $6.00 to $10.00 lower.
Although midday pork cutout values were higher, the lean hog complex started the week off in a cautious manner. August lean hogs closed up $0.12 at $102.97, October lean hogs closed down $1.22 at $87.80 and December lean hogs were down $1.77 at $78.55. More than anything a heavy weight has seemed to be cast across the livestock complex Monday morning.