Feeder Cattle futures closed $1.72 lower Tuesday, pressured by grain futures.
Live Cattle futures closed, though, closed an average 23¢. in the front three contracts to down an average of 30¢the rest of the way, with support from cash prices and wholesale beef values.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was down 74¢Tuesday afternoon at $216.24/cwt. Select was $1.17 lower at $206.84.
Grain futures rallied with support from crop conditions overseas and potential positioning ahead of Friday’s USDA World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.
Corn futures closed mostly 3¢to 5¢higher.
Soybean futures closed mostly 12¢ to 22¢ higher through May ’21 and then fractionally higher to 9¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial closed lower Tuesday on the announcement President Trump is halting economic stimulus talks until after the November election.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 375 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 47 points lower. The NASDAQ was 177 points lower.
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Agricultural producer sentiment rose to its highest level in September since the start of the pandemic, according to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. The index increased 12 points to 156, compared to August… the low for the year was 60 in April. The Current Conditions Index jumped 18 points to 142 in September. The Future Expectations Index rose 9 points to 163.
The Ag Economy Barometer is based on survey responses from 400 U.S. agricultural producers and was conducted Sept. 21-25.
According to James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture, “In September, producers were more optimistic about both current conditions and the future for agriculture than they’ve been since the pandemic began. He explains “A continued crop price rally and the announcement of the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program payments appear to be fueling much of their optimism.”
However, there was less optimism concerning the future of U.S. agriculture’s trade prospects. In September, 58% of respondents said they expect agriculture exports to increase over the next five years, down from 67% in August. The shift was primarily due to more producers indicating they expect exports to remain about the same in the future, rather than increase.
In a related question, producers were asked whether they expect China to fulfill the food and agricultural import requirements established in the Phase One trade agreement signed earlier this year. Farmers’ opinions were split, with less than half (47%) of respondents indicating they expect China to fulfill its commitment to import food and ag products from the U.S.