09/24/07 Weather down under and exports

Market Line September 24, 2007 Grain futures traders will be checking weather forecasts for dry Australia and any export news this morning. Exports drove double digit gains Friday with reports Iraq had purchased 700-thousand metric tons of U.S. hard red winter wheat and Algeria had bought 100-thousand tons. Australia still remains dry and Russia is restricting exports of barley and possibly of wheat. On Friday Chicago December wheat was up 24 cents at 8-74. Dec corn up 7 ¼ at 3-76 ½. Limited Portland cash soft white wheat bids 18-20 cents higher at mostly $9. Club wheat $9. No red wheat bids at Portland. Barley at the coast 261 dollars a ton. USDA issued a Cattle on Feed report Friday and department livestock analyst Shayle Shagum has the numbers. Shagum: "On feed numbers September 1st down about six percent from a year ago. And to a large extent that does reflect a lower placement number. Placements during August were about seven percent below year earlier. We also did see about unchanged number of cattle marketed relative to last year. The trade was expecting I think a little bit more cattle to be marketed. But the general indication is the feedlots are relatively current." Cattle futures were higher Friday ahead of the report thanks in part to higher cash fed cattle sales. Oct live cattle up 140 at 96-70. Oct feeders up 95 at 116-20. Oct Class III milk down 75 cents at 18-26. I'm Bob Hoff and that's Market Line on the Northwest Ag Information Network. Now this.