01/29/07 Survey suggests big corn acreage jump

Market Line January 29, 2007 A survey by Farm Futures magazine suggests U.S. farmers may plant over 88 million acres of corn this year, a ten million acre increase over 2006 thanks to $4 corn futures. That would be the largest U.S. corn acreage since 1946. Corn futures were lower Friday which also pressured wheat. Lack of any export news continues to weigh on wheat as well. Traders will be checking new weather forecasts today regarding the possibility of much below normal temperatures for some areas of U.S. winter wheat. On Friday Chicago March wheat was down 5 ¼ cents at 4-63 ½. March corn down 1 ½ at 4-05 ½. Portland cash soft white wheat steady to a penny lower, mostly 5-07. Club wheat 5-07. HRW 11.5 percent protein down six cents at 5-63. Dark northern spring 14% protein three to five cents lower at 5-73. Barley at the coast 171 dollars a ton. Live cattle futures closed higher ahead of USDA's Cattle on Feed report Friday while feeders were mixed. Commentators says the market may take the report as mildly bearish as the numbers were outside of the average expectations. Feedlot inventory was up one percent, placements down nine and marketings down five percent. Of potential long term impact USDA analyst Shayle Shagum noticed heifer placements were up. Shagum: "On January 1st our heifer and heifer calf number on feed was up four percent from a year ago and that was the highest number we have seen since January of 2004. Ahead of the report, April live cattle up 60 cents at 93-57. March feeders down 20 at 94-10. March Class III milk up 13 cents at 14-50. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.