CBOT futures closed mostly higher. Soybean futures found support this week with the Brazilian trucker strike and strong demand for US soybeans/meal. The 3 pct jump in soybean oil futures accounted for old-crop soybean futures closing positive today. Corn futures recovered from Wednesday’s negative price action (dropping below the sideways channel) with two strong days. Wheat futures closed higher on follow-through buying after wheat broke to new contract lows yesterday and finished near steady to higher. Being the last trading day of February, some short-covering (profit-taking) probably magnified the gains in Chicago wheat. Generally speaking, CFTC reports suggest the spec funds are short Chicago Wheat, about even in Soybeans and modestly long Corn futures; this means the specs are in position to jump on a price trend up or down.

Cattle futures closed mixed with the gains focused in the nearby 2 contracts of LC and FC. The February Live Cattle contract expired today by dropping $3.12 to $158.00. Once the market had this expiration behind it, the April LC contract rallied the rest of the day ending late at $152.10; this is still a sharp discount to cash cattle, but over $5.00 above lows set Tuesday/Wednesday below $146. Choice carcasses closed up 0.55 at 247.58; Select up 0.67 at 245.57. Compared to a week ago, Choice beef gained over $7.00/cwt and Select beef rose almost $10.00.

Lean Hog futures closed slightly higher today but Thursday’s losses kept April LH’s weekly price change minimal. Cash hog prices were steady but pork cutout made strong gains by the afternoon report. FOB Plant Pork closed UP 2.38 at 70.51 on higher values for all 6 primals. This is still $1.01 below last Friday’s cutout value.

USDA Extends Deadline to Update Base Acres or Yield History for ARC/PLC Programs    Read News Release Here

Corn Mar +4 384; Jly +5 401; Dec +4 417 (411-19) Bean Mar +7 1031; Jly +5 1035; Nov unch 997 (990-1004) Meal Mar -1 354; Oct -3 329 Oil +96 3280 Wheat Mar +14 517; Jly +12 517 (502-21) KC +7 534; MGE +5 556 Oats +9 290 Rice +8 1047

LC Apr +190 15170; Jun +90 14385; Oct -15 14507 FC Mar +160 20190; May -5 19887; Aug -55 20117 LH Apr +32 6747; Jun +25 8287; Oct +67 7215 Milk Mar +19 1569; Apr +38 1587

US$ steady

Dow -82 18133 SP -6 2104 NAS -24 4964 Tran -58 9025 VIX -.57 13.34 -4%

WTI +159 4976 Brent +243 6248 Gas +6 177 NG -1 289 HO +16 230 Eth +5 144 Gold +3 1213 Slvr -7 1651 Gold +3 1213 Slvr -7 1651

2-yr -.02 0.622% 5-yr -.02 1.500% 10yr -.02 1.996% 30yr -.01 2.593%

Kentucky Weekly Livestock Summary for the week of Feb 6-12, 2015. Receipts This Week Last Week Last Year 5,135 No Report 26,141 Due to the inclement weather plaguing the Southeast recently, receipts were very light this week therefore no comparison is available. All classes of cattle marketed this week in Kentucky were met with very good demand. As extremely cold temperatures were rampant this week, warmer temperatures and rain are forecasted into early next week which is accompanied with warnings of flooding.

Supply: Slaughter Cows 8 percent; Slaughter Bulls 1 percent; Feeder cattle 88 percent. In the feeder supply, Steers made up approximately 54 percent and Heifers approximately 33 percent. Steers and Heifers over 600 lbs totaled approximately 67 percent. Replacement cattle 3 percent. 

KENTUCKY CASH GRAIN PRICES – Click Here 

KENTUCKY LIVESTOCK AUCTIONS --  Click Here 

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