Grain futures rally

Market Line August 4, 2009 A lower dollar, higher energy and stock market helped grains rally Monday on fund buying. Wheat futures saw double digit gains. Still, Louise Gartner for the Linn Group at the Chicago Board of Trade notes that wheat still has weak fundamentals.

Gartner: “It has very few bullish fundamentals that it can hang its hat on. We are in the middle of harvest across the northern hemisphere. We are trying to wrap up winter wheat harvest here in the United States. We are just getting started with the spring wheat harvest. We are looking at a boomer crop coming out of North Dakota. Quality may be lower but the bushels certainly are expected to be there. We are also looking at better than expected yields coming out of key European regions of France.”

Weekly wheat export inspections continue to run below the weekly average needed to meet USDA’s export projection for the marketing year.

USDA reports the winter wheat harvest is 77 percent complete in Oregon, 38 percent Washington and 17 percent complete in Idaho.

On Monday Chicago September wheat was up 21 cents at 5-49 ¼. September corn up 18 ½ at 3-50 ½. Portland soft white wheat steady to a nickel higher at mostly 4-95. Club wheat 6-45. HRW 11.5 % protein seventeen to 25 cents higher at 6-19. DNS 14% protein 17-19 cents higher at 7-06. No Portland barley bids.

Live cattle contracts were called firm Monday with feeder contracts lower. The higher stock market helped live cattle while lower corn pressured feeder contracts. October live cattle up 12 cents at 90-32. October feeders down 52 at $102. September Class III milk up 21 cents at 12-61 with deferred contracts lower.

I’m Bob Hoff and that’s Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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