CBOT futures closed mixed again today with soybeans performing better than corn and especially wheat futures. Traders were getting positioned for Monday’s Crop Report (at Noon EST). Since the speculators are only small longs in soybean futures, they have plenty of room to buy soy futures. But they already have a huge long in corn futures and may have been trimming it ahead of the weekend. Wheat was pressured sharply due to US wheat not being competitive on the world market.

Average trade guesses for Monday’s USDA Crop Report are: Corn: 14.53 billion bushels on 175.3 bu/acre. Soybeans: 3.96 billion bushels on 47.6 bu/acre

Cattle futures closed strongly higher on a good rally after noon CST. The cash slaughter market was weak on light volume. Cash and December LC futures are now trading near the same level. The Choice-Select spread narrowed 2.23 today with Choice down 1.41 at 249.11; Select up 0.82 at 238.07/cwt.

Lean Hog futures closed moderately higher despite a weak pork market and increasing slaughter supplies. Futures were volatile but closed mid-range. FOB Plant Pork closed down .56 at 94.74/cwt. (compared to down 1.44 at midday)

Livestock producers need to be aware of the expansion happening in broiler production.   Daily Livestock Report by CME Group reports that broiler chick placements are up 3.3% y/y for the past 4 weeks. Read Daily Livestock Report here.

Corn Dec -4 367 (364-72); May -3 389; Dec15 -3 413 Bean Jan +9 1037 (1019-39); May +8 1044; Nov +12 1019 Meal Dec -1 390; May +4 347 Oil -13 3240

Wheat Dec -6 514; Jly -6 540 (536-45) KC -10 569; MGE -8 546 Oats +3 339 Rice +3 1187

LC Dec +145 16680; Feb +182 16837; Jun +37 15680 FC Nov +200 23852; Jan +187 23245; Mar +135 22965 LH Dec +112 8877; Feb +142 8842; Apr +120 90910 Milk Nov +1 2186; Dec -4 1918

US$ -.6%

Dow +19 17574 SP +1 2032 NAS -6 4633 Tran -4 8949 VIX -.55 13.12

WTI +74 7865 Brent +53 8339 Gas unch 213 NG +1 441 HO +4 250 Eth -1 188 Gold +27 1170 Slvr +30 1571

2-yr -.04 0.502% 5-yr -.09 1.587% 10yr -.08 2.301% 30yr -.07 3.033%

Kentucky Weekly Livestock Summary for the week of Oct 31-Nov 6, 2014. Receipts This Week Last Week Last Year 24,928 28,700 30,960 Compared to last week Steer and Heifer Calves sold slightly lower early, but gained strength by mid-week to close mostly steady. There were instances where 300-500 lbs Heifers were significantly higher. Demand was moderate to good and quality mostly plain through average. Yearling Steers and Heifers sold steady with good demand. Slaughter Cows sold 1.00 to 3.00 higher with good demand and Slaughter Bulls steady to 2.00 higher with good demand.

Supply: Slaughter Cows 8 percent; Slaughter Bulls 1 percent; Feeder cattle 87 percent. In the feeder supply, Steers made up approximately 33 percent and Heifers approximately 33 percent. Steers and Heifers over 600 lbs totaled approximately 42 percent. Replacement cattle 4 percent.

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