01/08/07 Major USDA reports this week

Marketline January 8, 2007 Grain traders will get lots of numbers this coming Friday from USDA including the Quarterly Grain Stocks report and an estimate of planted winter wheat acreage. Wheat futures finally stopped falling Friday closing unchanged to a few cents higher. There was spillover support from corn on a bullish private corn production estimate. Weekly export sales for wheat weren't helpful. Ryan Kilbrantz of ADM at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange says they came in way under trade expectations at just over 135-thousand tons. Kilbrantz: "That number is 62% last week and about 68% below the fur-week average. Major destinations include Thailand, Indonesia and Taiwan. Overall sales are running behind last year's pace." Soft white wheat export sales however are running ahead of last year's pace by about 200-thousand tons. On Friday Chicago March wheat was up 2 ¾ cents at 4-70 ¼. March corn up six at 3-68 ¼. Portland cash soft white wheat were mixed at mostly 4-88. Club wheat 4-88. HRW 11.5 percent protein four to five cents higher at 5-48. Dark northern spring 14% protein unchanged to higher at 5-64. Barley at the coast lower at 168 dollars a ton. Live cattle futures were higher Friday as boxed beef prices showed gains. Also there were concerns about another winter storm for the Plains. Feeder futures were pressured by higher corn. Feb live cattle up 35 cents at 92-57. March feeders down 95 at 97-65. Feb Class III milk down two cents at 13-41. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Marketline on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.