09/03/07 Markets on a holiday

Market Line September 3, 2007 Grain futures exchanges are closed today for the Labor Day holiday and will reopen tomorrow. Heading into the long weekend Friday wheat futures were mixed though Chicago December wheat hit another all time high in pit trading of $8.05 a bushel. Whether wheat prices continue to climb depends upon two key factors according to USDA grains analyst Jerry Norton. Norton: "Really what people are watching now and what's fueling prices higher is this dryness, particularly in Australia, that is reducing crop prospects there. And the other issue will be determining what the prices go to, or whether they come down, will be what the crop in Europe turns out to be like. And in recent weeks a number of private analysts have reduced their crop estimates of the crop in Europe again. So these things are what's driving the market. And if the crop in Europe gets smaller and if the crop in Australia ends up to be smaller than most people think, then we will have higher prices. But that is yet to be seen." On Friday Chicago December wheat was down nine cents at 7-75 ½. Dec corn up a quarter cent at 3-40. Portland cash soft white wheat higher at mostly 7-65. Club wheat 7-67. HRW 11.5 percent protein eight to 21 cents lower at 7-56. Dark northern spring wheat 14% protein one to four cents higher at 7-72. Barley at the coast higher at 220 dollars a ton. Cattle futures were lower Friday on profit taking and October longs rolling into December. Oct live cattle down 17 cents at 96-90. Oct feeders down 52 at 117-62. Oct Class III milk down 11 cents at 19-85. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.