02/23/07 Soft white nears $5.50 Portland

Market Line February 23, 2007 Sharply higher wheat futures again Thursday helped Portland cash bids and soft white wheat is now just a few cents short of 5 ½ dollars a bushel. It was speculative buying and higher corn prices that drove wheat futures and Ryan Kilbrantz of ADM at the Minneapolis Grain Exchange expects that to continue. Kilbrantz: "We do think that the futures will continue to be impacted by the outside markets, mainly corn. Speculation that more wheat will be used as feed due to the high cost of corn should also continue to add fuel to the upside. And it looks like we are putting a little bit of a weather premium in the prices due to some of the talk of dryness here in the northern areas of the Midwest." On Thursday Chicago March wheat was up 13 ½ cents at 4-89. March corn up 8 ¼ at 4-34 ½. Portland cash soft white wheat seven to eight cents higher at 5-46. Club wheat 5-46. August new crop soft white ten to 12-cents higher at 5-24. HRW 11.5 percent protein up eight cents at 5-95. Dark northern spring 14% protein five to six cents higher at 6-13. Barley at the coast 174 dollars a ton. August at 147. Cattle futures closed mixed Thursday but many live contracts set new highs during the trading session. There was pressure from lower boxed beef prices. There was strength in deferred futures on expectations of a friendly Cattle on Feed report this afternoon. April live cattle up 17 cents at 96-40. March feeders down 80 at 99-22. March Class III milk up eight cents at 14-75. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.