A surge in wholesale beef prices helped lift Live Cattle futures on Tuesday. They closed an average of $1.27 higher on strong volume (50¢ higher at the back to $2.30 higher near the front).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $2.22 higher ($1.65 higher at the back to $2.87 higher in spot Aug).
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $4.32 higher Tuesday afternoon at $306.10/cwt. Select was $1.87 higher at $279.60/cwt.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from inactive on very light demand to a standstill through Tuesday afternoon, with too few transactions to trend, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, live FOB prices were $178-$179/cwt. in the Southern Plains $186, in Nebraska, and $185-$186 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed delivered prices were $292-$295.
Corn futures eroded further Tuesday, closing 4¢ to 7¢ lower through Jly ‘24 and then mostly fractionally lower to 2¢ lower.
KC HRW Wheat closed 5¢ to 11¢ lower through Jly ‘24 and then mostly 1¢ higher.
Soybean futures closed mostly 5¢ to 10¢ higher.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mixed Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 71 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 12 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 62 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed 36¢ to 43¢ lower through the front six contracts.
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Agricultural producer sentiment improved slightly in July, according to the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. It rose 2 points to a reading of 123. The Index of Current Conditions rose 5 points to a reading of 121, while the Index of Future Expectations was up 1 point to 124.
“Producers were slightly more confident about the farming economy in July, despite recent crop price volatility and continued concerns about rising interest rates,” says James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture.
Given the volatility in commodity prices, especially crop prices, this spring and early summer, Ag Barometer analysts say it’s notable that more producers expressed concern about rising interest rates than declining output prices. Producers’ top concern for their farming operations in the upcoming year is still higher input costs, followed by rising interest rates and lower output prices.
The Ag Economy Barometer is calculated each month from 400 U.S. agricultural producers’ responses to a telephone survey. This month’s survey was conducted between July 10-14.