01/04/07 Wheat futures tumble; cattle higher

Marketline January 4, 2007 Wheat futures started 2007 off with steep losses Wednesday which also pressured Portland cash prices. Fund selling was a big feature of the day that saw a general sell-off in commodities. Lackluster exports, a higher U.S. dollar and good moisture for the U.S. Plains over the long weekend were bearish fundamentally. Some commentators are thinking there could be a bounce back today but wheat may need help from corn to do it. On Wednesday Chicago March wheat was down 24 ½ cents at 4-76 ½. March corn down 19 ¾ at 3-70 ½. Portland cash soft white wheat 11-15 cents lower at mostly 4-89. Club wheat 4-89. HRW 11.5 percent protein down 23 cents at 5-52. Dark northern spring 14% protein lower by 25-26 cents at 5-73. Barley at the coast 173 dollars a ton. Cattle futures were higher Wednesday with February and April live contracts hitting new highs during the session amid lower corn prices and the holiday weekend storm in the Plains. Not only can the weather impact feedlot weight gains but cattle on the range are stranded as Leonard Pruett, a county extension agent in Colorado explains. Pruett: "You know we are talking about 70-80-thousand mother cows that are out on the open range and free roaming animals. Those are the ones we are trying to get to that are stranded. We aren't finding many dead ones but then of course they may be covered up with three feet of snow." In the futures Wednesday Feb live cattle up 60 cents at 93-10. March feeders up 62 at $99. Feb Class III milk down 12 cents at 13-20. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.