Friday Market Watch

LIVESTOCK:

Friday came and went, and though the cattle contracts would have liked to round out the week on a higher note, no one is complaining after the week the market just had. The lean hog complex closed higher in its nearby contracts, but what was even more impressive is the movement that pork cutouts had. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $6.91 with a weighted average of $99.13 on 3,197 head

From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: April live cattle up $1.78, June live cattle up $2, April feeder cattle down $0.25, May feeder cattle up $2.10, June lean hogs up $0.30, July lean hogs up $0.60.

Friday's slaughter is estimated at 119,000 head -- 5,000 head more than a week and year ago. Saturday's slaughter is estimated at 63,000 head -- 41,000 head more than a week ago and 8,000 head less than a year ago. This week's slaughter is estimated at 665,000 head -- 31,000 head more than a week ago and steady with a year ago.

Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $2.26 ($267.91) and select down $0.91 ($254.77) with a movement of 95 loads (57.74 loads of choice, 15.46 loads of select, 11.47 loads of trim and 10.39 loads of ground beef).

GRAINS:

July corn closed down 6 1/4 cents per bushel and December corn was down 14 1/4 cents. July soybeans closed down 31 1/2 cents and November soybeans were down 26 1/2 cents. July KC wheat closed up 6 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 1 1/4 cents and July Minneapolis wheat was up 7 1/4 cents

For the Week:

July corn finished up 5 1/4 cents, December corn finished down 10 3/4 cents. July beans closed up 22 3/4 cents, and November beans rose 3 3/4 cents. Chicago July wheat ended up down 29 1/4 cents, KC July was down 7 3/4 cents, and Minneapolis July wheat closed 15 1/2 cents higher.

DAIRY:

MILK

Class III milk futures increased 1 cent to settle at $24.32 for April. May futures slipped 2 cents to $24.55. June slipped 4 cents, settling at $24.78. Class IV milk futures for April were unchanged at $25.20. May futures were down 4 cents to $24.62. June declined 21 cents, settling at $24.24. February fluid product sales totaled 3.5 billion pounds, 3% lower than a year earlier. Conventional fluid milk declined by 3%, and organic fluid milk fell by 3.9%.

AVERAGE CLASS III PRICES

3 Month:	$24.55
6 Month:	$24.52
9 Month:	$24.14
12 Month:	$23.54

CHEESE

Cold storage American cheese totaled 822.2 million pounds, slipping 1% from a year ago and from the previous month. Swiss cheese was at 23 million pounds, up 2% from a year ago, but down 8% from a month ago. Other cheese totaled 612.8 million pounds, staying level from a year ago and from the previous month. Total natural cheese slipped 1% from a year ago, totaling over 1.5 billion pounds. This was also 1% lower from a month ago.

BUTTER

Cold storage butter held 283.1 million pounds, declining 20% from a year ago and increasing 8% from February. Butter prices rising in grocery stores are contributing to the decline in consumer demand. Bulk butter ranges from 5 to 15 cents above market.

OUTSIDE MARKETS:

The June U.S. Dollar Index is trading up 0.536 at 101.150. June crude oil slipped $1.72, settling at $102.07. The Dow dropped 981 points to 33,811, and the NASDAQ fell 335 to 12,839. June gold is down $12.50 at $1,935.70, May silver is down $0.31 at $24.32 and May copper is down $0.1190 at $4.5850. June heating oil is up $0.0169, June RBOB is down $0.0306 and May natural gas is down $0.421.