UK Winter Wheat Meeting – Hopkinsville – Tomorrow at 9 am CST.   Click Here

CBOT futures closed strongly higher, led by the soy complex. Soybean futures traded to new lows Tuesday evening (following the day’s new-low closes), but rallied sharply during the 8:30am -1:00pm session. Buying may have been technical in nature as the US Dollar weakened and futures rose above the 100-day moving average. The end result is a friendly “outside day UP” on the charts.

Corn rallied in sympathy with soybeans and wheat futures. Corn closed at its highest price in 3 weeks. The March Corn contract has closed higher four straight trading days and is now around 14 cents above the December lows.  Wheat futures also posted “outside day UP” signals. While global wheat supplies are huge, traders may be a little concerned for winterkill with the extreme cold and little snow cover. The large short position of the large funds helps fuel rallies in wheat.

Live Cattle futures closed mixed with strength in the nearby contracts, as cash cattle traded around $117/cwt today – a premium to the nearby February LC contract. LC also benefited from a strong midday boxed beef market. Choice closed up .32 at 203.65 and Select gained .73 to 194.30.  CH/Sel spread = 9.35.  Choice and Select were both quoted 1.51 higher at midday.   Feeder Cattle opened steady but fell under pressure from rising CBOT futures. Adding to selling pressure is bearish momentum from last Friday’s price reversal after touching new highs for the move. FC futures are around $4.00 below those highs.

Lean Hog futures closed higher, rebounding from Tuesday’s sharp losses which came after LH hit new highs in the February LH contract. Support came from stronger cash hog prices, but pork values fell.  FOB Plant Pork dropped 1.23 to 79.31 with a huge 11% drop in ham value and 3% drop for picnics.
 

Corn Mar +4 360; Jly +4 372; Dec +3 387

Bean Mar +20 1015; Jly +20 1030; Nov +15 999

  Meal +7 319

  Oil +40 3521

Wheat Mar +12 418; Jly +10 442

  KC +12 426; MGE +7 544

Oats +2 238

Rice +12 973

 

LC Feb +80 11567; Apr +77 11472; Jun +15 10430

FC Jan -170 12850; Apr -110 12367; Aug -70 12295

LH Feb +110 6460; Apr +107 6797; Jun +65 7657

Milk Jan unch 1651; Feb -12 1680

 

US$ -.6%  

   This comes after Tuesday’s rally to new highs.

Dow +60 19942

SP +13 2271

NAS +48 5477

Tran +92 9116

  VIX -.99 11.86

 

WTI +102 5335

Brent +98 5645

Gas +2 164

NG -7 326

HO +1 169

Eth 02 151

Gold +3 1165

Slvr +7 1648

2-yr -.008 1.218%

5-yr -.016 1.931%

10yr -.017 2.437%

30yr -.012 3.038%
 

KY Crop Progress and Condition  - Jan 3, 2017

Agricultural News (December): The majority of Kentucky counties were still in a Moderate or Severe Drought rating from the U S Drought Monitor through mid-December. As precipitation improved towards the end of the month, some counties still had an Abnormally Dry rating. Precipitation for the month totaled 5.54 inches, 1.12 inches above normal. Precipitation totals by climate division, West 5.29 inches, Central 6.06 inches, Bluegrass 5.26 inches and East 5.53 inches, which was 0.46, 1.26, 1.41 and 1.32 inches above normal respectively. Temperatures averaged 38 degrees for the month, near normal. High temperatures averaged from 45 in the West to 47 in the East. Low temperatures averaged from 30 degrees in the West to 31 degrees in the East. Milder temperatures and rainfall have resulted in muddy field conditions in some areas.

Tobacco producers continued to strip their tobacco when conditions allowed. The amount of tobacco stripped was 81 percent, compared to 87 percent last year. Winter wheat was rated in mostly good condition, but there are spots in some fields where dry weather affected stands, and delayed and/or non-uniform emergence occurred. Winter wheat conditions were rated as 3% very poor, 8% poor, 33% fair, 45% good, and 11% excellent.

Most producers feel hay supplies are adequate, however quality may be an issue due to dry conditions experienced in October and November. Hay and roughage supplies were reported as 4% very short, 14% short, 74% adequate, and 8% surplus. Livestock was rated in mostly good condition, although many producers started to supplement pastures with hay earlier this season. Additionally, some pastures are being reseeded in areas that were impacted by severe and extreme drought. Livestock conditions were rated as 1% very poor, 2% poor, 20% fair, 64% good, and 13% excellent.

Kentucky Farm Bureau Minute video  - Click Here

KENTUCKY CASH GRAIN PRICES – Click Here

KENTUCKY LIVESTOCK AUCTIONS --  Click Here