Nearby
Futures | Weekly
Change | Friday's
Close | Year
Ago |
| Corn | - .13 ¾ | 3.49 ½ | 3.35 ¾ |
| Soybeans | - .16 | 8.77 ¼ | 10.64 ¼ |
| Wheat | - .19 ¼ | 4.57 ¾ | 5.25 ¼ |
| Cattle | - 3.50 | 140.48 | 157.05 |
| Hogs | + 2.73 | 69.15 | 102.65 |
| Cotton | - 0.68 | 63.07 | 66.77 |
| Milk | - 0.03 | 16.14 | 24.22 |
| Crude Oil | + 0.83 | 46.05 | 94.45 |
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Comments: Grain and oilseed futures were down on the week, pressured by a gloomy global macroeconomic environment, technical selling, and private U.S.
crop estimates.
Weak export demand also weighed on corn, which approached its August lows, and on wheat, which fell to fresh multi-year lows.
Front-month Chicago wheat fell to its lowest level in five years.
Soybeans were underpinned by continued signs of a rebound in exports, with weekly sales totals coming in well above expectations and daily reports indicating strong Chinese buying.
Some private U.S.
crop estimates are indicating corn and soybean production will be as strong as USDA's August estimates, which bullish traders had dismissed as being too high.
With harvest starting up in parts of the central Corn Belt, market bulls are expecting anecdotal reports to show disappointing yields.
Recent hot, dry weather may have also shaved a little off of yields, although overall the weather is a mixed influence right now as there is no frost threat in the forecast.
In the livestock complex, live cattle futures fell on pessimism about beef demand and expectations of weaker cash trade.
The weak cash trade was confirmed late in the week as Texas and Kansas traded at $143, mostly down $3 from the prior week.
Wholesale beef prices were down on the week, and a wobbly stock market and concern about China's economy, along with beef's large premium to pork and chicken, cloud the outlook for beef demand.
Lean hog futures were higher on the week, underpinned by the market's discount to cash, firm pork prices and strong packer margins.
The market has also attracted some technical buying.
However, hog supplies remain ample, which weighed on cash prices last week and could limit futures' upside.
Hog weights will soon start to rise seasonally as new-crop corn enters feed rations.
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