Negotiated cash fed cattle prices continued higher Wednesday.
Dressed sales in Nebraska were $8-$15 higher at $300/cwt. on light trade and good demand. There were some early live sales at $188-$194, but too few to trend, according to the Agricultural Marketing Service. Live prices there last week were $183-$189.
Live sales in the western Corn Belt continued $3-$5 higher at $190 on light trade and good demand. Although too few to trend, there were some dressed sales at $300. Dressed prices there last week were $288-$292.
Trade in the Southern Plains was very limited on moderate to good demand with too few transactions to establish the market. Last week, live prices were $175-$180 in the Texas Panhandle and $178-$180 in Kansas.
Wholesale beef prices continued higher. Choice boxed beef cutout value was $3.79 higher Wednesday afternoon at $325.19/cwt. Select was $2.12higher at $301.56/cwt.
Even so, Cattle futures closed sharply lower amid likely technical selling and profit taking.
Live Cattle futures closed an average of $2.34 lower (82¢ lower in spot Jun to $2.82 lower).
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $3.76 lower ($2.72 lower at the back to $4.27 lower).
Another day and another forecast — wetter this time — pressured Corn and Soybean futures Wednesday.
Corn futures closed mostly 7¢ to 10¢ lower.
Soybean futures closed mostly 8¢ to 10¢ lower.
KC HRW Wheat closed 21¢ to 32¢ lower through Jly 24 and then 13¢ to 16¢ lower.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed mixed Wednesday with investors continuing to look for direction.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 91 points higher. The S&P 500 closed 16 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 171 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed 79¢ to 83¢ higher through the front six contracts.
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Pasture and range conditions continued to improve last week, according to the Crop Progress report from USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
For the week ending June 4, 45% of pasture and range was rated as Good (37%) or Excellent (8%), compared to 43% the previous week and 28% a year earlier. 20% was rated as Poor (14%) or Very Poor (6%), versus 22% a week earlier and 43% a year earlier. States with more than 40% of pasture and range rated as Poor or Very Poor include: Kansas (45%), Missouri (47%) and Oregon (46%).
Corn condition slipped a little week to week.
96% of corn was planted, which was 3% more than the previous year and 5% more than the five-year average. 85% was emerged, compared to 76% last year and 77% for average. 64% was rated in Good (53%) or Excellent (11%) condition, compared to 69% the previous week and 73% the previous year. 6% was as Poor (6%) or Very Poor (1%), compared to 4% a year earlier, which was 1% more than previous week and 2% more than a year earlier.