08/03/06 Chicago leads wheat futures higher

Marketline August 3, 2006 Wheat futures closed higher Wednesday and soft red contracts at Chicago led the way. Brian Hoops at Midwest Market Solutions in Yankton, South Dakota, says wheat got spillover support from weather concerns for the row crops and from fund buying. Hoops: "We saw decent funding buying. It is the beginning of a new month. We expect to see a little bit of buying in here. Plus the trade was disappointed in the coverage of the rainfall. It was a fairly narrow band in northwest Iowa into Minnesota. Very heavy rains developed but just a narrow band. The trade did not see as much coverage as it would have liked." Morocco tendered for U.S. wheat and India is hinting it may import another one million tons in addition to the 3.9 million it has already purchased. News is also awaited on an Iraqi tender. There is some concern about conditions for planting the winter wheat crop in Kansas where subsoil moisture is reported at 81 percent short to very short. On Wednesday, September Chicago wheat was up nine cents at 4-01 ½. September corn up 6 ¾ at 2-47 ¼. Portland cash white wheat was two to four cents higher at mostly 3-92. Club wheat 4-07. HRW 11.5 percent protein three to four cents higher at 4-25. Dark northern spring 14% protein mixed at 5-55. Cattle futures were lower Wednesday as higher corn pressured feeders and expectations now are that cash fed cattle could be lower as packers slow the slaughter pace rather than boost bids. Traders think the heat in the eastern U.S. will reduce beef demand. Oct live cattle down 72 cents at 87-58. Oct feeders down 147 at 113-40. Sept Class III milk down 11 cents at 12-13. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.