03/05/07 Buying hard red spring acres

Market Line March 5, 2007 Wheat futures were mixed Friday with Chicago the weakest market, Minneapolis the strongest. USDA is forecasting a nine million acre increase in corn plantings this year and department economist Dennis Shields told the USDA Outlook Forum last Friday some of those corn acres will come at the expense of wheat. Shields: "Spring wheat is also expected to be a million lower as producers in the Northern Plains see corn and soybean returns just too good to pass up." Brian Hoops of Midwest Market Solutions in Yankton, South Dakota says the Minneapolis market is concerned about losing those acres. Hoops: "So it needs to keep a fairly strong price level and it is trying to do that at the $5.26 level in the September Minneapolis contract." Of note, Allendale Incorporated is estimating a 12 million acre increase for corn versus USDA's nine million. On Friday Chicago May wheat was down 5 ¼ cents at 4-73 ¾. May corn down seven at 4-21. Portland cash soft white wheat were mixed again and mostly 5-41. Club wheat 5-41. August new crop soft white three to five cents lower at $5. HRW 11.5 percent protein one to five cents lower at 5-88. Dark northern spring 14% protein down a penny at 5-98. Barley at the coast 170 dollars a ton. August at 150. Cattle futures were sharply higher Friday benefiting from lower grain futures and from a higher cash fed trade than expected at 94-95 dollars a hundredweight. There were many new contract highs. April live cattle up 150 at 97-65. April feeders up 152 at 105-52. April Class III milk up 15 cents at 14-35. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.