Feeder Cattle futures extended gains Tuesday, closing an average of $2.37 higher on Corn futures that were 23¢ to 29¢ lower through Jly ’23, pressured by a favorable short-term weather outlook and positive crop progress and conditions. Soybean futures closed 20¢ to 28¢ lower through Mar ’23.
Live Cattle hovered ahead of the week’s cash direction closing an average of 19¢ lower, except for an average of 35¢ higher in the back two contracts.
Negotiated cash fed cattle trade ranged from mostly inactive on very light demand to a standstill through Tuesday afternoon, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service.
Last week, live prices were $145/cwt. in the Northern Plains and western Corn Belt. They were $140 in Kansas and $136-$140 in the Texas Panhandle. Dressed prices were $230.
Choice Boxed beef cutout value was $1.06 higher through Tuesday afternoon at $267.56/cwt. Select was 31¢ higher at $246.70.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed sharply higher Tuesday, perhaps a relief rally after last week’s steep losses.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 641 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 89 points higher. The NASDAQ was up 270 points.
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Creighton University’s Rural Mainstreet Index (RMI) for May declined to the lowest level since Feb. 2021 but remained above growth neutral for the eighteenth consecutive month, according to the monthly survey of bank CEOs in rural areas of a 10-state region dependent on agriculture and/or energy.
Among highlights from the recent report:
- Escalating costs of farm inputs pushed borrowing up to its highest reading since May 2020.
- On average, cash rents rose 9.6% to $250 per acre for non-irrigated crop land over the past 12 months.
- Approximately 40% of bankers expect 2022 farm income to be greater than 2021 farm income, while 25.9% of bankers expect 2022 farm income to be less than last year’s farm income.
- The depreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Mexican peso has been a stimulus to exports to Mexico, the top destination for the region’s farm products.