Wheat futures lower; cattle mixed

Market Line September 23, 2009 Wheat futures saw some short covering near the close but still closed lower on Wednesday. Wheat didn’t benefit from new forecasts for the potential of frost in the cornbelt next week. A lower dollar offered some support.

Lynn Smith with the Zaner Group says there really wasn’t much news for wheat.

Smith: “Wheat in the past has been kind of following the corn and beans but it looked like there was some spreading, buying corn and selling wheat, that might have attributed to the losses in the wheat market. It was the fifth consecutive lower close for CBOT wheat so that contract is just kind of drifting lower. It closed pretty much in the middle of the range between the high and low.”

On Tuesday Chicago December wheat was down a quarter cent at 4-55 ¾.

December corn up 9 ¾ at 3-25 ¾. Portland soft white wheat steady to lower at mostly 4-40. Club wheat premium $3. HRW 11.5 % protein one to six cents lower at 5-03. DNS 14% protein down two cents at 6-31. No Portland barley bids.

Cattle futures were mixed Tuesday. Short covering was a feature for both live and feeder contracts. Traders are waiting for cash fed cattle news while cash feeders were lower. October live cattle up 30 cents at 85-37. October feeders up 12 at 96-85. October Class III milk down 12 cents at 12-59.

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

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