Favorable conditions for corn planting/emergence and wheat growth have pushed corn and wheat futures to new contract lows. The large spec funds are short wheat (record large) and corn futures with the trend being their friend. Soybeans are up slightly thanks to the continued rally in soybean oil futures with support from the Chinese; July soybean oil is near key chart resistance from 33.30 to 33.64. Sharply higher energy prices are not providing any support today. Treasury yields continue rising despite the weaker US stock market.

Cattle futures are now mostly lower after moving higher through mid-morning hitting new highs not seen since first-half April. Traders may be pausing to see more cash market activity. At midday, boxed beef is supportive -- Choice beef is up 1.33 to 256.97 and Select is up .36 at 244.26.

Lean Hog futures are mostly higher with the spot May LH contract up sharply given the rising cash hog prices and firmer pork markets. FOB Plant pork is up .61 at 74.93. May LH hit a new high for this move off the March 25 low near $65.00 – that’s a $14.00 rally. The February high of $81.92 is first resistance.

Corn Jly -5 356; Dec -5 373 Bean Jly +3 979; Nov +1 950 Meal Jly -1 312; Oct -2 304 Oil +63 3326 Wheat Jly -10 462; Dec -11 487 KC -12 486; MGE -7 523 Oats -2 229 Rice -12 998

LC Jun -52 15020; Oct -67 15005 FC May -97 21417; Aug -85 21647 LH May +205 7897; Jun +72 8255; Oct +7 7297 Milk May -11 1627; Jun -24 1663

 

US$ -.3% Dow -.4% SP -.6% NAS -1.1% Tran -1% VIX +6.8% 13.72

WTI +3.4% Brent +2.6% Gas +2% NG -.7% HO +2.7% Eth +.2% Gold +.7% Slvr +.9%

5-yr +.048 1.547% 10yr +.050 2.185% 30yr +.052 2.920%

Lexington Auction Weighted Average Report for 05/04/2015 Receipts: 1379 Last Week: 1171 Year Ago: 1240 Compared to last week steer and heifer calves under 600 lbs sold steady with good demand; over 600 lbs sold 2.00 higher with good demand. Quality was average through attractive. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold steady with very good demand.

44 replacement cattle, 153 slaughter cattle, and 1182 feeder cattle. Today's supply included 37.9 percent that weighed over 600 lbs. 27.8 percent steers and 18.3 percent bull calves 6.9 percent Holstein Steers and 33.7 percent heifers of total recorded feeder supply. 102 head of slaughter cows with 88 percent going to slaughter. 24 head of slaughter bulls with 96 percent going to slaughter.