Cattle prices up in morning trading. March 12, 2024

The news this morning is that Conab (like USDA in Brazil) came out with updated production estimates. They now estimate the Brazilian soybean crop at 146.8 million metric tons (mmt) down 2.6 mmt from last month and a whopping 8.2 mmt below USDA. For corn, the updated Conab  estimate is at 112.7 mmt — down 1 mmt from last month and 13.3 mmt below the USDA estimate. I thought this would be more positive for grain prices, but it is early in the day.

At this hour, corn futures are down 1¢, soybean futures are 1¢ lower, and wheat futures are 1¢ to 3¢ lower.

The stock market in China is up 0.1% while stocks in Japan are down 0.4%. European stocks are up 0.3%  The US stock market is mixed with the S&P 500 up 6 points and the Dow down 19.

The U.S. Dollar Index is up 0.27 points at 103.13, crude oil is down 2¢ per barrel at $77.95. Gold is down $16.

In the livestock markets April hogs are up 40¢, April cattle are up 17¢, and May feeder cattle are up 50¢.

Tags: futures, live cattle, feeder cattle, lean hogs, corn, soybeans, wheat