Friday Market Watch - Wheat Markets Crash and Burn as Ukraine Export Agreement is Signed

 LIVESTOCK:

Heading into Monday's market, the big question will be: which USDA report are the cattle contracts going to focus on? The Cattle on Feed report was somewhat bearish with its larger-than-expected placements, but the Cattle Inventory report was bullish with the market possessing the fewest beef cows it's had since 2014. Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon Hog Report, down $6.23 with a weighted average of $118.48 on 4,266 head. 

From Friday to Friday livestock futures scored the following changes: August live cattle up $2.45, October live cattle up $3.45; August feeder cattle up $5.20, September feeders up $4.80; August lean hogs up $8.88, October lean hogs up $3.73; September corn down $0.40, December corn down $0.40.

More: Friday Closing Livestock Market Update - Contracts Rally Ahead of USDA Reports

GRAINS:

September corn closed down 11 1/2 cents per bushel and December corn was down 9 1/4 cents. August soybeans closed up 16 cents and November soybeans were up 14 1/4 cents. September KC wheat closed down 41 cents, September Chicago wheat was down 47 1/4 cents and September Minneapolis wheat was down 40 1/4 cents. 

For the week:

September corn closed down 40 cents, December corn closed down 39 1/2 cents. August beans closed down 31 1/2 cents, and November finished down 26 1/2 cents. Kansas City Sep wheat fell 17 1/4 cents, Chicago Sep wheat was down 17 3/4 cents, and Minneapolis Sep wheat closed down 41 1/2 cents.

DAIRY:

It has been another negative week with more of the pressure seen in later contracts. That has been a bit unusual as market movement is generally confined to closer contracts. However, the outside market influences have increased the bearishness of traders into next year. Higher prices at the grocery store and the uncertainty of demand through the rest of this year are having substantial impacts on the market. The Bi-annual Cattle Inventory report showed the dairy herd on July 1st at 9.45 million head, down 1% from a year ago. This was not much outside of expectations. The bullish aspect of the report was dairy heifers at 3.75 million head. These are heifers 500 pounds and up. This is a 39.7% ratio of heifers to cows and the lowest ratio since July 2003. This will keep expansions limited and the nation's dairy herd from growing anytime soon.

More: Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - Cheese Inventory Declined

THIS WEEK'S HAY MARKETS (link to blog)

OUTSIDE MARKETS:

The September U.S. Dollar Index is trading down 0.259 at 106.545. September crude oil declined $1.65 per barrel closing at $94.70. The DOW declined 138 points ending at 31,899 while the NASDAQ declined 227 points closing at 11,834. August gold is up $6.60 at $1,720.00, September silver is down $0.29 at $18.43 and September copper is up $0.0170 at $3.3155. September heating oil is down $0.1258, September RBOB is up $0.0359 and August natural gas is up $0.364.