Grain markets are higher across the board, led by soy meal and soybeans. Gains in Dalian grain futures were supportive overnight with No. 1 food grade soybeans closing at a new record high of over $25.00 per bushel. Soybeans on China’s Dalian Exchange were up 0.48% while soybean meal was up 1.92% and corn was down 0.39%. Traders decided to take profits before the end of the week and to close out the month. Future posted triple-digit losses across the entire livestock complex. This does not make one feel warm and fuzzy to begin the week. There may likely be some follow-through selling in live cattle futures as April is now front-month and carrying a significant premium to cash.
Hogs turned tail Friday as sellers became aggressive. The few bearish items of last week consisting of choppy cutout prices and a significant decline of exports on the weekly export sales report, might have been just too much for a lofty, overbought market. However, even with the triple-digit declines of futures, the uptrend remains intact. Packers are expected to start out less aggressive this week, waiting to see how cutouts will perform and whether current price is high enough to keep hogs coming to the market.
Farm and Ranch Director Jesse Allen has our full reports:
