Al6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 22,2001 Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange Closing Bids: Thursday, Dec. 20,2001 Corn Month Opening High Low I Closing 206 206 1/4 204 1/21204 1/2 |204 3/4 02Jan 02Mar; 214 OZMay 220 1/2 220 1/2 218 3/4 219 1/4 | 02Jul 226 1/4 226 1/2 224 3/4 225 224 3/4 02Sep 230 1/2 230 1/2 229 1/2 229 1/2 i 230 02Dec 237 1 237 1/2 236 1/4 236*1/2 1236 3/4 03Mar 244 3/4 245 1/4 244 1/4,244 1/4 244 1/2 03Jui 250 250 1/4 249 1/2 249 3/4 ! 03Dec 251 1/4 252 250 3/4 251 > 04Dec Month Opening High Soybeans Month Opening High 436 02Mar 436 438 1/2 02Jan 02May 439 1/2 441 1/2 438 1/2 02Jul 445 445 1/2 442 1/2 02Aug 443 3/4 445 1/2 442 02Sep 443 445 1/2 02NOV 448 449 1/2 445 1/2 03Jan 03Mar 03Nov 481 Month Opening High Soybean Meal Month Opening .High Low i’-- Clbsfhg 02Jan 148.7 151.5 148.7 151.2 151.4 02Mar 145.7 147.7 145.4 147.7 147.6 02May 145.0 145.9 144.6 02Jul 146.2 147.0 145.8 02Aug 147.0 147.5 146.4 02Sep 02Oct 02 Dec 147.5 148.0 146.7 147.0 148.0 146.1 149.0 149.6 147.4 03Jan 03Mar Month Opening High Low Weekly Dairy Market Outlook Kcn Bailey Penn State Dec. 14,2001 Reflections On Our Agricultural Economy Milk prices have dropped sig nificantly in recent weeks and it’s pretty easy for dairy farmers to let this get them down. We’ve all heard that cheese and butter prices have taken a nose-dive in reaction to a slowing economy and the after effects of Sept. 11. Globalization, new technolo gies, and consolidation at the retail, cooperative, and proces sor levels are forcing many changes upon the family farm. This makes some farmers wonder whether or not their in dividual contributions arc valued by society. Fact is, the U.S. has the larg est and most sophisticated econ omy in the world. Consumers have a wide selection of high quality foods at very low costs. The typical American household spends less than 10 percent of their disposable income on food. That frees up the rest of our wallet to buy other things, im portant things, such as big homes, SUV trucks, the latest and greatest computer games, and electronic gadgets. That re sults in even more economic ac- GRAIN. CATTLE, HOG, & MILK BFP FUTURES MARKETS 214 211 3/41 LOW Low 438 434 435 443 481 480 l Low ' f 146.8 146.2 148.3 148.0 b 148.5 a 148.3 149.0 b 149.5 a 149.3 -10 Closing Settle Net Chg tivity that makes our economy grow year after year. I have been reflecting on the importance of agriculture in our everyday lives this past year. Ac ademic scholars debate whether agriculture represents the foun dation of the U.S. economy. Some say that it does, others argue our economy has ad vanced well beyond this. Some might even suggest that agricul ture represents a declining in dustry that can be “outsourced” to other countries much like steel, electronics, and textiles. The truth is, we have seen dramatic evidence this year just how important agriculture is to a country’s economy and politi cal stability. Britain experienced a gut-wrenching outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease that re sulted in the slaughter of four million animals. We all shared the pain felt by family farmers devastated over the loss of their farm animals. What surprised me was the economic ripple effect that this tragedy had on the rest of the British economy. No one doubts today that agri culture represents a very im portant part of the fabric of life in Britain and the rest of Europe. The fact is, no country can have a successful economy if 212 1/4 212 Closing Closing 435 1/4 436 1/2 439 438 3/4 439 443 443 1/2 443 1/4 442 b 442 1/2 a 442 1/4 442 b 443 a; 443 445 1/2 4511/2 n 457 n 478 b Closing I Settle Net Chg 151.3 +2B 147.6 +22 145.7 145.9 146.3 146.5 145.8 +lO 146.4 146.4 146.7 146.5 146.8 146.5 146.4 148.3 Settle jNetChgl 204 3/41 -20 i 212 1/41 219 219 1/4! 225| 1229 3/4, 236 3/4 1 244 1/2 249 3/4| 251 Settle INetChg! Settle 436 435 1/2 436 436 1/4 +2 445 1/2 451 1/2, 457 480 i 'Settle ’{Net dig 480 a‘ + 5 + 5 + 2 people are hungry or believe their personal security is threat ened. We know that what people “feel” has an impact on the stock market, retail sales, and growth of the greater U.S. econ omy. Right now consumer confi dence in the U.S. is low and people don’t “feel” good about the economy. That is contribut ing to part of our current eco nomic malaise. The recent events in Afghani stan also show just how import ant food is to the political stability of a country. The U.S. is airlifting tons of food each day into Afghanistan. Our reasons are clear: we’re trying to feed people and create an environ ment in which a new govern ment can be formed. Even more food will be delivered this winter. Bags and bags of wheat and other food products from the U.S. will be distributed to the people of Afghanistan. Ameri can farmers can take pride in the fact that they are personally involved with this important relief effort. My guess is that once the fighting stops and let’s hope that is soon the global com munity will begin the process of rebuilding the agricultural econ omy in Afghanistan. Micro loans will become available and tech nical help will be sent to aide farmers in rebuilding their agri cultural infrastructure. This will Lean Hogs Date 12/20/01 Feb 02 5250 5322 52505305 +4O 12/20/01 Apr 02 5690 5722 5685 5715 +l3 12/20/01 May 02 6295 630262676302 +5 12/20/01 Jun 02 6385 6425 63756422 +l5 12/20/01 Jul 02 6130 619061306160 +l5 12/20/01 Aug 02 6010 6025 60006000 -35 12/20/01 Oclo2 5220 524052175217 unch 12/20/01 Dec 02 5057 5065 50505060 +3 -20 -14 Composite Volume Open_lnt 12/19/01 3220 24059 -14 -6 Live Cattle -6 -6 -6' Date 12/20/01 Dec 01 6480 6525 64306432' 12/20/01 Feb 02 6890 6900 6837 6842 12/20/01 Apr 02 7190 7205 7137 7162 12/20/01 Jun 02 6835 6855 6800 6815 12/20/01 Aug 02 6830 686768256842 12/20/01 Oct 02 7050 707070307040 12/20/01 Dec 02 7115 7120 7090 7090 -10 Unch Net Chg + 4 Composite Volume Open_lnt 12/19/01 11731 93821 -14 Pork Bellies -10 -2o; Date -20 12/20/01 Feb 02 7430 7485 73407357 -73 12/20/01 Mar 02 7420 742072557255 -135 12/20/01 May 02 7600 760075507550 -50 12/20/01 Jul 02 7710 771075907602 -48 12/20/01 Aug 02 7640 7640 7600 7630 -10 -20 -10 Composite VolumeOpenjnt 12/19/01 , 446 2485 Oats Month ' 02Mar 183 1/2 185 1/2 182 185 [lBs 1/4 .185 1/4 -10 02May 168 1/2 171 3/4,168 1/2 171 3/4 171 3/4 +4 02Jul 153 157 152 1/2,156 1/4; 156 1/4 4 02Sep 135; 138 135, 137 b 137| 02Dec 140 1401137 1/2| 138 b Month OpeninglHigh ' sss&'.' j• :/ v-;/’- Open High Low Last Chge P ™ ious • >revi » us 6 Volume Openjnt 2213 14767 759 4764 35 1160 164 1693 24 710 I 338 21 448 3 175 n ... . , ¥ . Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge ... „ , , Volume Open_lnt 1801 5442 5876 45200 2320 20157 864 13500 752 6772 72 1926 46 824 _ Previous Previous Open H.gh Low Last Chge Vo|ul|lc op( . n 416 1957 28 298 0 , 169 -0 - 50 2 '"'ll not only relieve starvation in the cities where people can’t find food, but it will also create jobs and spur economic development in rural communities. Dairy farmers throughout the U.S. should take pride in the fact that they have one of the most important jobs in our econ omy. As we have already seen this year, a nation’s economy can get in big trouble if con sumers question the safety, qual ity, and abundance of their food sources. The dairy industry alone rep resents a $26 billion dollar in dustry at the farm level. Dairy farmers are part of a growth in dustry that employs veterinari ans, input dealers, and even a few economists! This estimate doesn’t take into consideration other jobs that are created when milk is processed, distributed, and sold at retail. The dairy foods industry represents $7O billion a year in economic activ ity. Thus dairy farmers can take pride in the contribution they make to the general economy. But dollars and cents can’t re flect all of the contributions that dairy farmers make in the lives of our American families. Num bers can’t measure the delight of a small child when they are treated to an ice cream cone. They can’t reflect the contribu tion that calcium makes to strong bones and overall good r r 1 JL3B| _ . Settle -jNetChg health. And they don’t measure the warmth that American fami lies will feel this Christmas when they sit down to a home cooked meal complimented with farm-fresh butter, abundant supplies of milk and cream, and great tasting cheese and ice cream. Happy Holidays to all our dairy farm families! Average Farm Feed Costs for Handy Reference To help farmers across the state to have handy reference of commodity input costs in their feeding operations for DHIA record sheets or to develop livestock feed cost data, here’s last week’s average costs of various ingred ients as compiled from regional reports across the state of Pennsylvania. Remember, these are averages, so you will need to adjust your figures up or down according to your location and the quality of your crop. Corn, No.2y 2.29 bu., 4.10 cwt. Wheat, N 0.2 2.58 bu., 4.31 cwt. Barley, N 0.3 —1.57 bu., 3.35 cwt. Oats, N 0.2 1.52 bu., 4.74 cwt. Soybeans, No.l —4.12 bu., 6.87 cwt Ear Corn 62.70 ton, 3.13 cwt. Alfalfa Hay —123.75 ton, 6.19 cwt. Mixed Hay—llB 75 ton, 5.94 cwt. Timothy Hay 115.00 ton, 5.75 cwt. -20 -20
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers