Cattle futures lost steam after early support Tuesday, as grain and soybean futures continued to gain and traders awaited weekly cash direction.
Corn futures closed mostly 3¢ to 6¢ higher. Kansas City Wheat futures closed mostly 9¢ to 11¢ higher. Soybean futures closed 22¢ to 28¢ higher through Aug ‘23.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of $1.02 lower (70¢ lower to $1.32 lower).
Live Cattle futures closed an average of 22¢ lower, except for 5¢ higher in Aug and $2.37 higher in new away-Apr.
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 $150/cwt. in the Southern Plains and $152-$153 in Nebraska and the western Corn Belt. Dressed prices were $240.
Choice Boxed beef cutout value was $1.02 lower Tuesday afternoon at $262.63/cwt. Select was $1.73 lower at $232.73/cwt.
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Major U.S. financial indices edged lower Tuesday, ahead of the Fed’s next interest rate move.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 79 points lower. The S&P 500 closed 15 points lower. The NASDAQ was down 97 points.
West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil futures (CME) closed $1.51 to $1.84 higher through the front six contracts.
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Agricultural producer sentiment weakened again in October, as measured by the Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer. It declined 10 points from the prior month to a reading of 102. Both of the barometer’s sub-indices also declined. The Current Conditions Index dipped 8 points to a reading of 101 while the Future Expectations Index dropped 11 points to a reading of 102.
“Concern over rising interest rates grew once again in October and is adding to the unease among producers who are worried about its impact on their farm operations,” says James Mintert, the barometer’s principal investigator and director of Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture. “Additionally, challenging shipping conditions throughout the Mississippi river valley have hampered exports recently and the corresponding widespread weakening of corn and soybean basis levels could be contributing to heightened unease about financial performance.”
Producers’ concerns about their farm’s financial performance were one of the primary drivers of weakening sentiment in October. The Farm Financial Performance Index fell 13 points to 86, reflecting producer concerns about high input costs combined with weaker commodity prices. Looking ahead to next year, more than 40% of producers viewed high input costs as their top concern, followed by 21% who chose rising interest rates, 13% who chose lower output prices, and 13% who chose input availability.
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 Oct. 10-14.