It seems yesterday’s NASS report that put corn planting at 71 pct complete has relieved bullish pressure from corn futures.  Old-crop soybean futures continue to find buying support on the tight supply situation even though exports have slowed and there are reports that South American soybeans are/will be imported to the U.S.

Corn futures are trading 5 cent above the day’s lows and soybean futures are 10-15 cents off the lows set before the pit-trade opened at 930 am CT.

July CBOT Wheat is working its way down toward the contract low of 6.64 ¾ set on April 1, 2013.

Live Cattle futures are trading higher as Choice Beef set a new high on Monday and since beef packers are operating in the black, they may pay more for fed cattle this week.  June Live Cattle futures are at a significant discount to cash prices.

Lean Hog futures are up slightly, trading in a narrow range similar to Monday’s trade.

Financial markets are positioning ahead of Wednesday’s Congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and the release of FOMC minutes from the April 30-May 1 meeting.  Traders are cautious, fearing indications the Fed may begin to “taper” its bond buying program from the current $85 billion/month.

Corn Jly -14.5 635; Sep -13 542; Dec -5 515.5 (512-518.5) Bean Jly +4 1469; Sep -7 1287; Nov -2 1223 (1214-1227) Meal Jly unch 435; Dec -1 344 Oil +26 4946 Wheat Jly -9 676 (674-684); Dec -10 698 KC -9 736; MGE +2 813 Oats -7 356 Rice +9 1527

LC Jun +82 12095; Oct +72 12320; Dec +90 12480 FC May -57 13195; Aug +162 14610; Oct +140 15005 LH Jun +17 9225; Aug +35 9070; Oct +70 8177 Milk May unch 1851; Jun -12 1817

US$ +.05% Dow +.3% SP +.2% NAS +.2% Tran +.2% VIX +.2% 13.04

WTI -.5% Brent -.6% Gas -1.4% NG +1.7% HO -.5% Eth -1%

Gold -.5% Slvr -.5%

5-yr unch 0.84% 10yr unch 1.97% 30yr -.01 3.17%

April Milk Production up 0.3 Percent     Milk production in the 23 major States during April totaled 16.1 billion pounds, up 0.3 percent from April 2012. March production, unrevised at 16.4 billion pounds, was down 0.1 percent from March 2012.

Blue Grass Stockyards Cattle Auction Report for 05/20/2013 Receipts:   1,301 Last Monday:  972 Year Ago:     911

Compared to last week, steer and heifer calves sold 3.00 to 5.00 lower with light demand on an average to good quality offering except featherweight heifers under 400 lbs 10.00 lower with very light demand.

Yearling steers steady in a very light test and yearling heifers untested.  Cattle futures closed lower late last week and were erratic today opening lower and closing closer to steady. Slaughter cows and slaughter bulls sold steady with good demand.

Total supply included 10% slaughter cows, 01% slaughter bulls, less than 01% replacements and 89% feeders.  Feeder supply 33% steers, 24% bulls, 43% heifers with 46% of feeders weighing over 600 lbs.

China has emerged as the world’s dominant importer of soybeans, bolstering demand for U.S. exports  http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/detail.aspx?chartId=37575&ref=collection

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