Friday Market Watch - Cattlemen Will Chew Over Cattle on Feed Report; More Snow in The North; It's Raining Cats and Bears on The Board

LIVESTOCK:

t was a mixed day for the livestock complex as traders remained leery of supporting the live cattle contracts ahead of Friday's Cattle on Feed report, but both the feeder cattle and lean hog contracts closed higher.

Hog prices closed lower on the Daily Direct Afternoon hog report, down $0.90 with a weighted average of $66.02 on 3,990 hogs. 

From Friday to Friday, livestock futures scored the following changes: April live cattle down $0.78, June live cattle up $0.80; April feeder cattle up $0.38, May feeder cattle up $4.50; June lean hogs down $0.80, July lean hogs down $0.85; May corn down $0.03, July corn down $0.21.

Friday's slaughter is estimated at 108,000 head, 4,000 head less than a week ago and 12,000 head less than a year ago. Saturday's slaughter is projected to be around 12,000 head. This week's slaughter is estimated at 622,000 head, 9,000 head more than a week ago and 42,000 head less than a year ago.

Boxed beef prices closed lower: choice down $0.39 ($306.6) and select down $0.94 ($287.8) with a movement of 104.13 loads (77.62 loads of choice, 15.01 loads of select, 5.61 loads of trim and 5.89 loads of ground beef). Throughout the week, choice cuts averaged $306.51 (up $8.60 from last week) and select cuts averaged $289.79 (up $7.89 from last week) and the week's total movement of cuts, grinds and trim totaled 528 loads.

More: Friday Closing Livestock Market Update - Cattlemen Will Chew Over Cattle on Feed Report

GRAINS:

July corn closed down 10 3/4 cents and December corn was down 9 1/2 cents. July soybeans closed down 19 1/2 cents and November soybeans were down 15 1/4 cents. July KC wheat closed down 1 1/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 7 cents and September Minneapolis wheat was down 9 1/4 cents.

For the week:

July corn closed down 20 1/2 cents and December corn was down 12 cents. July soybeans closed down 18 1/4 cents and November soybeans were down 16 1/4 cents. July KC wheat closed down 37 3/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 19 1/2 cents and September Minneapolis wheat was down 26 1/2 cents.

DAIRY:

Block cheese price increased 0.50 cent, closing at $1.75 with seven loads traded. Barrel cheese price gained 0.75 cent, closing at $1.5525 with 23 loads traded. Dry whey price increased 0.75, closing at 36.25 with seven loads traded. There have been quite a few loads of barrels and dry whey traded this week as buyers picked up what was being offered. The past two weeks have seen quite a bit of activity. The strength Friday had virtually no impact on milk futures with contracts from 15 cents lower to 5 cents higher on somewhat light trading activity. Butter price increased 0.50 cent, closing at $2.40 with six loads traded. Grade A nonfat dry milk price increased 0.50 cent, closing at $1.1650 with three loads traded. Class IV futures have not yet traded. Butter futures are 1.00 cent lower to 1.25 cents higher. Dry whey futures are unchanged. Traders remain cautious over upside price potential limited gains of futures even though underlying cash prices have had limited gains this week.

More: Friday Closing Dairy Market Update - Heavy Cash Business This Week

FORAGE: This Week's Hay Markets (Forage Fodder Blog)

OUTSIDE MARKETS:

The June U.S. Dollar Index is down 0.09 at 101.48. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 6.33 points at 33,792.95. June gold is down $28.80 at $1,990.30, May silver is down $0.28 at $25.09 and May copper is down $0.0385. June crude oil is up $0.40 at $77.77, June ultra-low sulfur diesel is down $0.0026, June RBOB gasoline is up $0.0156 and June natural gas is down $0.028.