05/23/07 Wheat futures give back gains

Market Line May 23, 2007 Wheat futures dropped Tuesday by about as much as they gained Monday. Good crop condition ratings for winter and spring wheat as well as corn weighed on the grains. Approaching harvest is also a negative. Combines are rolling in Texas, Oklahoma and Louisiana. There are some concerns about quality with rains forecast for the Plains and Midwest. Rain in China also added pressure on wheat futures. On Tuesday Chicago July wheat was down 8 ½ cents at 4-71. July corn down 11 ½ at 3-69 ½. Portland cash soft white wheat steady to three cents lower at mostly 3-62. Club wheat 3-62. August new crop soft white five to eight cents lower at 5-10. HRW 11.5 percent protein down 8-10 cents at 5-50. Dark northern spring 14% protein seven to ten lower at 5-83. Barley at the coast 164 dollars a ton. August at 155. The World Organization for Animal Health has given the U.S. a "controlled risk" classification for its containment of BSE and Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns says that means countries banning U.S. beef need to move forward in opening their borders. If not the U.S. could go to the WTO. Johanns: "We have never ruled that out but that is a time consuming process. You can tie up a couple of years just getting through that. We want this to move much quicker than that." Cattle futures yesterday were unchanged to lower getting pressure from lower boxed beef values and the end of Memorial Day wholesale buying. June live cattle down 110 at 92-50. August feeders unchanged at 113-70. June Class III milk up 21 cents at 19-08. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.