Cattle futures were higher Tuesday on the first day of the new quarter, supported by strengthening wholesale beef values.
Toward the close, Live Cattle futures were an average of $2.06 higher. Feeder Cattle futures were an average of $2.73 higher.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from mostly inactive on very light demand in the North to a standstill in the Southern Plains through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, FOB live prices were $209-$210/cwt. in the Southern Plains and $213 in the North. Dressed delivered prices were $335-$345.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $6.96 higher Tuesday afternoon at $342.22/cwt. Select was $2.06 higher at $322.07.
Grain and Soybean futures were higher Tuesday as traders resumed buying after month-end and quarter-end position squaring and with USDA’s Planting Intensions and Grain Stocks reports in the books, perhaps also reflecting some new weather premium.
Toward the close and through Sep ’25 contracts, Corn futures were 3¢ to 5¢ higher. Kansas City Wheat futures were 5¢ to 7¢ higher. Soybean futures were 18¢ to 20¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mixed Tuesday, after another extremely volatile session, as traders weighed the implementation of reciprocal tariffs Wednesday and their impact on both inflation and economic growth.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 11 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 21 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 150 points.
Through mid-afternoon, West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures on the CME were 3¢ to 26¢ lower across the front six contracts.
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Agricultural producer sentiment declined in March, driven by concerns about agricultural trade and farm policy, according to the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.
Month to month, the overall index declined 12 points to a reading of 140. The Index of Future Expectations dropped 15 points to 144 and the Current Conditions Index slid 5 points to 132.
Producer optimism about U.S. export growth sagged to a record low in March with 30% of producers anticipating a decline in exports, nearly matching the 33% who expect exports to rise. For perspective, producers reported they were optimistic about export growth in 2019 and 2020, the first two years that surveys posed the question. Optimism declined in 2021 and continues to erode.
Likewise, producers’ agricultural policy focus is shifting.
Before the November 2024 election, farmers reported a higher focus on interest rate policy than trade policy. Since the election, trade policy has become a fast-growing concern, with 43% of respondents, on average, now citing it as the most critical issue impacting their farms, up sharply from an average of just 21% prior to the election.
“While the overall sentiment shift in March reflects growing uncertainty, farmers remain cautiously optimistic about the future, particularly with farmland values holding steady and the outlook for strong returns in the livestock sector helping to offset weaker expectations among crop producers,” according to Michael Langemeier, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.