Friday Market Watch

LIVESTOCK:

The livestock contracts rounded out the day mixed as the feeder cattle contracts closed lower with corn prices trading higher, the live cattle market closed on both sides of steady, and the hog market closed anywhere from $1.00 to $3.00 higher. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $0.59 with a weighted average of $120.23 on 8,140 head.

From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: June live cattle down $2.68, August live cattle down $3.20; August feeder cattle down $0.45, September feeder cattle up $0.28; July lean hogs down $0.08, August lean hogs down $1.10; July corn down $0.34, and September corn down $0.55.

Friday's Cattle on Feed report shared that June 1 on feed inventories totaled 11,846,000 head, up 1% from a year ago. Pieces of the report passed the sniff test, such as the higher marketings and lower placements. However, where I struggle with the report is: How can Nebraska have record on-feed numbers, but the cash market be so current that there's a $12 premium in this week's market because supplies of market-ready cattle in the North are so thin? And, how can May's disappearances be 13% higher than a year ago and total 76,000 head? (The extreme heat wave that killed cattle in Kansas was in June, not May.)

Friday's slaughter is estimated at 122,000 head, 2,000 head less than a week ago and 5,000 head more than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected is projected to be around 46,000 head. This week's slaughter is estimated at 666,000 head, 1,000 head less than a week ago but 6,000 head more than a year ago.

Boxed beef prices closed higher: choice up $0.32 ($264.98) and select up $0.08 ($245.02) with a movement of 85 loads (46.30 loads of choice, 17.21 loads of select, 10.61 loads of trim and 10.88 loads of ground beef). Throughout eh week choice cuts averaged $266.06 (down $2.27 from last week) and select cuts averaged $245.81 (down $0.57 from last week) with a total movement of cuts, grinds and trim totaling 595 loads.

More: Friday Closing Livestock Market Summary - Livestock Complex Looks to Monday for Direction

GRAINS:

July corn closed up 3 1/2 cents and December corn was up 18 1/2 cents. July soybeans closed up 17 1/2 cents and November soybeans were up 8 3/4 cents. September KC wheat closed down 12 1/2 cents, September Chicago wheat was down 12 3/4 cents and September Minneapolis wheat was down 9 1/4 cents. 

For the week:

July corn closed down 34 1/4 cents and December corn was down 57 cents. July soybeans ended down 91 1/4 cents and November soybeans were down $1.13 1/4 cents. September KC wheat closed down $1.13 3/4, September Chicago wheat was down $1.10 1/4 and September Minneapolis wheat was down 99 1/2 cents.

DAIRY:

The market digested the milk production report earlier this week without too much fanfare. However, the cold storage report created much anxiety for the market as traders that had been holding out hope for higher prices, threw in the towel. Lower milk production than a year ago has not had much impact on reducing the supply of cheese available to the market. It was positive that milk production decreased from a year ago or inventory might have been quite a bit higher. However, if milk production would be higher, it would likely mean that cost of production would be lower, and demand might be higher due to lower inflation. This is difficult to quantify, but a strong possibility. It is not a good thing to see farms continue to exit the dairy business. The Global Dairy Trade auction took place earlier this week and showed the trade weighted average down 1.3%. There were 149 participants with a total of 20,760 metric tons sold. 

More: Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - Milk Futures Take A Hit

THIS WEEKS HAY MARKETS (link)

OUTSIDE MARKETS:

The September U.S. Dollar Index is trading down 0.20 at 103.99. August crude oil gained $2.83 ending at $107.10 per barrel. The DOW jumped 823 points closing at 31,501 while the NASDAQ gained 375 points closing at 11,608. August gold is up $1.90 at $1,831.70, July silver is up $0.14 at $21.18 and July copper is down $0.0010. August heating oil is up $0.0171, August RBOB gasoline is up $0.1069 and August natural gas is up $0.002.