Negotiated cash fed cattle trade wobbled from the blocks on Tuesday with live prices $1 lower than last week in the Texas Panhandle at $124/cwt. That was on slow trade and light to moderate demand. Perhaps today’s weekly Fed Cattle Exchange auction will provide more clarity to the price trend.
Cattle futures closed mostly narrowly mixed on Tuesday with apparent profit taking on the one side, and settling in for potentially higher cash trade on the other.
Except for 70¢ lower in spot Dec and 52¢ higher in the back contract, Live Cattle futures closed 27¢ lower to 17¢ higher.
Feeder Cattle futures closed an average of 56¢ lower (for 5¢ to 82¢ lower).
Choice boxed beef cutout value was $2.07 higher Tuesday afternoon at $212.64/cwt. Select was $2.99 higher at $197.76.
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Major U.S. financial indices closed narrowly mixed on Tuesday.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 8 points higher. The S&P 500 closed fractionally lower. The NASDAQ closed 18 points lower.
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“Steady as she goes,” might be the most apt description of producer attitudes in the latest Purdue University/CME Group Ag Economy Barometer.
Most respondents to the latest Ag Barometer Survey (80%) expect farmland rental rates to be unchanged in 2018 compared to this year. The other 20% were split equally between those expecting rental rates to be higher and those expecting lower rates in 2018.
Similarly, compared to the last time producers were posed the question in July, fewer producers expect higher corn, soybean and wheat prices in the next 12 months. However, fewer producers also expect crop prices to decline over the next year.
Information from the monthly survey accounts for 400 agricultural producers across the U.S. and is used in calculating an index. The October index of 135 was 3 points higher than the previous month—the third-highest mark since data collection began two years ago. Expectations for the future drove the increased optimism.