05/21/07 Weather and harvest pressure wheat futures

Market Line May 21, 2007 Wheat futures posted double digit losses Friday. Ideas that U.S. crop conditions will improve in the ratings this week and better crop weather in Europe and Australia were negatives for wheat. That even offset news out of China that several million acres of wheat in its main producing province has been damaged or destroyed by dry conditions. Joe Victor of Allendale Incorporated says another factor was also at work in the U.S. market. Victor: "The harvest pressure, you know just the mere perception of harvest pressure." India has a tender out for a million tons of wheat but despite high level talks with USDA officials it is not clear if the Indians will drop restrictions which prevent U.S. wheat from being shipped to India. On Friday Chicago July wheat was down 14 ¼ cents at 4-71 ¼. July corn down 1 ¾ at 3-71 ¼. Portland cash soft white wheat steady to higher at mostly 5-65. Club wheat 5-65. August new crop soft white seven to eight cents lower at 5-18. HRW 11.5 percent protein down 12 cents at 5-54. Dark northern spring 14% protein down 11 at 5-88. Barley at the coast 170 dollars a ton. August at 154. USDA's Cattle on Feed report Friday pegged the feedlot inventory May 1 at 11.3 million head, down two percent from a year ago. Placements were down three percent and marketings were up two percent. Ahead of the report, June live cattle up 22 cents at 92-65. August feeders up 77 113-72. June Class III milk down 18 cents at 18-77. USDA reported Friday that April milk production in the major producing states was up 1.6 percent from April of 2006. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.