GRAINS:
July corn closed down 13 cents and December corn was down 5 3/4 cents. July soybeans closed down 9 3/4 cents and November soybeans were down 9 1/2 cents. July KC wheat closed down 8 3/4 cents, July Chicago wheat was down 5 1/2 cents, July Minneapolis wheat was down 4 cents.
Active sellers were denied on Monday when buyers stepped in by late morning to reject the attempted move lower in soybean and corn futures. No such buying spree arrived for Tuesday, however, as sellers remained in firm control of the market for the majority of the session. Corn and soybean planting pace remained above average for the time of year in Monday afternoon’s Crop Progress report from USDA. Meanwhile, winter wheat conditions were improved as well, benefiting from recent rainfall across growing regions. Outside markets leaned bearish to grain prices as well with the U.S. dollar inching higher, as well as weaker energy markets leading the vegetable oil market lower, which offered negative influence on soybean futures.
LIVESTOCK:
The live cattle complex continues to diligently trade higher and higher seeming to shock even the most bullish-minded folks. Etching out new contract highs is currently the market’s norm, and with ample fundamental support, it’s anyone’s guess at this point where the top could be. Nothing has surfaced yet for this week’s cash cattle trade, and it’s not likely that anything will before Thursday or Friday. Feedlot managers are again going to aim for higher prices, but with packers cutting throughput drastically, steady prices may be the best feedlot managers get this week unless packers are still short-bought.
The feeder cattle complex is hungry for more and it’s not being bashful about how it is aggressively trading higher. And thankfully, the feeder cattle complex has been robustly supported in terms of fundamental support as buyers are actively seeking out calves/feeders to sure up their orders as turn out season is quickly approaching.
Although pork cutout values were slightly higher, the lean hog contracts traded mostly lower as traders simply need more fundamental encouragement. The market has posted a considerable rally since the first week of April, but now that traders are feeling some resistance pressure, it seems as though traders are scratching their heads and looking around for more support.
