Cattle futures continued to churn higher Tuesday.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 97¢ higher. Live Cattle futures closed an average of 94¢ higher (40¢ to $1.77 higher).
Corn and Soybean futures closed higher on likely positioning ahead of Wednesday’s World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates.
Corn futures closed 1¢ to 3¢ higher.
Soybean futures closed mostly 10¢ to 12¢ higher.
KC HRW Wheat closed mostly 6¢ 8¢ higher.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade was inactive with very light demand in all regions through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, live prices were $178/cwt. in the Southern Plains, $183.00-$186.50 in Nebraska and $182-$184 in the western Corn Belt. Dressed prices were $290.
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $1.67 lower Tuesday afternoon at $312.12/cwt. Select was $2.09 lower at $280.24/cwt.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed higher again Tuesday with investors apparently expecting to see more data this week suggesting cooling inflation.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 317 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 29 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 75 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed $1.65 to $1.84 higher through the front six contracts.
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Nationwide, pasture and range conditions improved some last week, according to Crop Progress report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
For the week ending July 9, 47% of pasture and range was rated as Good (37%) or Excellent (10%), which was 2% more than the previous week and 19% more than a year earlier. 23% was rated as Poor (15%) or Very Poor (8%), which was 2% less than a week earlier and 23% less than a year earlier. States with more than 40% of pasture and range rated as Poor or Very Poor include: Arizona (54%), Michigan (53%), Missouri (71%) and Texas (44%).
Corn and soybean condition also improved a bit.
22% of corn was silking, which was 8% more than the same time last year and 1% more than the five-year average. 55% of corn was rated, Good (45%) or Excellent (10%) condition, compared to 51% the previous week and 67% the previous year. 14% was rated as Poor (10%) or Very Poor (4%), which was 1% less than previous week but 4% more than a year earlier.
39% of soybeans were blooming, which was 9% more than a year earlier and 4% more than average. 51% of soybeans were rated in Good (44%) or Excellent (7%) condition, which was 1% more than the previous week but 11% less than the same week last year. 15% of soybeans were in Poor (11%) or Very Poor (4%) condition, the same as the previous week and 6% more than the previous year.
46% of winter wheat was harvested, which was 16% less than last year and 13% less than the average. 40% was rated in Good (33%) or Excellent (7%) condition, which was the same as a week earlier and 9% more than a year earlier. 28% was rated Poor (17%) or Very Poor (11%), which was 1% less than the previous week and 5% less than a year earlier.