Today was supposed to be a big Crop Report day, but the government shutdown has delayed (maybe cancelled?) that report and hundreds of other important price and production reports.  Headed into the weekend, news reports suggest all parties are talking about a solution to get the government open. The financial markets rallied the past two days on expectations of “no default”.

CBOT futures closed mixed, but mostly lower.  Corn dropped for a second day with December moving to a new low.  Price pressure came from news reports that EPA is recommending a cut in the ethanol RFS to 13.0 billion bushels due to the blend wall (reduced gasoline consumption limits ethanol usage at the 10% blend rate).  Similar proposed reductions in biofuel demand for soybean oil also pressured the soy complex with soybean oil futures leading the way down. In time, we’ll find out if the Obama administration agrees with the EPA.

Old-crop wheat futures traded higher on apparent short-covering as export demand for US wheat is reportedly strong (no USDA export reports this week).

Cattle futures closed higher with feeder cattle futures leading the way up.  Fed cattle markets were reported steady to $2/cwt higher than last week.   The October Live Cattle contract is pushing up against the last cycle high set in August. Feeder Cattle futures may be getting support from media coverage of the huge cattle losses suffered in South Dakota from the recent severe blizzard.

Corn Dec -5 433; Jly -5 462; Dec14 -5 475 Bean Nov -21 1267; Jly -16 1235; Nov14 -14 1158 Meal Dec -6 403;  Jly -3 381 Oil -94 4028

Wheat Dec +7 692; Jly +2 692 KC +5 760;  MGE +4 755

Oats -3 317 Rice -11 1511

LC Oct +50 12880; Feb +25 13412; Apr +32 13527 FC Oct +155 167474; Jan +92 16875; Apr +97 16845 LH Oct +50 9075; Dec -15 8650; Apr -20 8985 Milk Oct +4 1822; Nov +2 1820

US$ -.1% Dow +111 15237 SP +11 1703 NAS +31 3792 Tran +37 6648 VIX -.76 15.72  -4.6%

WTI -99 10202 Brent -77 11103 Gas -3 267 NG +5 378 HO -3.5 303.5 Eth -1 172

Gold -29 1268 Slvr -64 2126

Treasury Yields 2-yr unch 0.36% 5-yr unch 1.42% 10yr unch 2.69% 30yr unch 3.75%

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