05/09/08 Crop report today

Market Line May 9, 2008 USDA issues its first field surveyed estimate of this year's winter wheat crop this morning along with updated supply and demand forecasts. Mark Chiodo of Slipka Trading at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange says the USDA numbers will likely give the trade direction in the morning but then the focus will probably return to weather. Wheat futures closed higher Thursday benefiting from higher corn and concerns about planting delays. Chiodo says the yield forecasts from the hard red tour in western Kansas and Oklahoma weren't as good as from the east. Chiodo: "According to the email I got they were less than a year ago on average by about a bushel an acre and they ran into some rough spots where they saw complete abandonment." Weekly export sales numbers for wheat were also price supportive. On Thursday Chicago July wheat was up 14 ½ cents at 8-22. July corn up 17 ¼ at 6-30 ¼. Portland new crop soft white wheat two to ten cents higher at 7-90 to 8-10. August HRW 11.5 % protein seven to 12 cents higher at 9-34. August DNS 14% protein 16 to 21 cents higher at 10-20. Barley at the coast 198 dollars a ton for July. Some cash fed cattle sales higher than last week helped boost live cattle futures Thursday. Except for June all live contracts hit new monthly highs. Feeder contracts followed and also got underlying chart support. June live cattle up 182 at 93-65. August feeders up 120 at 109-47. June Class III milk up 20 cents at 19-57. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.