Grain Market Recap

Grain futures were sharply lower to wrap up the week after what was a pretty constructive trade on Thursday.  At the close December corn futures were 10 ¾ cents lower to settle at 410.  New crop November soybeans lost 31 cents to settle at 1048 ½.  September Chicago wheat finished 14 ¼ cents lower to settle at 523 ½.

Yesterday’s weekly export sales report was mixed for soybeans.  Old crop sales were reported at 88,600 metric tons, this was below the low end of expectations and was down 61% from the previous week and 63% from the 4-week average.  New crop sales on the other hand were strong at 830k metric tons, or about 30 million bushels. 

Also crossing the wires yesterday was a flash sale of soybeans to the tune of 264k metric tons, or about 9.7 million bushels for delivery to unknown destinations for the 2024/2025 marketing year.  This was the first flash sale since last Thursday.  There were no flash-sales reported today. 

The updated 6-10 day weather outlook from the national weather service shows hotter than average temperatures for nearly the whole country.  Precipitation expectations are more mixed with the eastern side of the grain belt expecting above normal precipitation while the western side is expected to be on the drier side. 

Livestock Market Recap

It was a mixed day in the livestock markets to wrap up the week.  At the close august and October live cattle were modestly lower while December and February finished the day with gains.  Feeder cattle futures were uniformly higher.  August was 1.07 higher to 259.70  September is starting to gain volume, that contract was 1.70 higher to settle at 259.60.  On the snout side, August was 30 cents lower while October was 40 cents higher. 

Many analysts make a point to note that some of the strength we saw this week in cattle may have come from the futures market attempting to converge with the cash market.  With the first notice day for august live cattle futures just about a week and a half away, the basis has narrowed which could start to narrow the daily ranges that we see in August live cattle, baring any major headline risk between now and then. 

This morning’s wholesale boxed beef report was sharply higher with choice cuts up 2.01 to 314.47 and select cuts up 2.99 to 298.10.  Yesterday’s 5-area average price for live steers was reported at 187.25, although that was on a fairly light trade.  Daily slaughter was reported at 120k head, that puts the week to date total at 480k which is 5k more than last week but 17k less than the same period last year. 

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