Al6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 16,2002 GRAIN, CATTLE, HOG, & MILK BFP FUTURES MARKETS Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange Closing Bids: Thursday, March 14, 2002 Com 02May 208 3/4 209 1/2 207 1/2 ~~ 208 ( 207 1/2 207 3/4 +4 02Jult 215 3/4j216 3/4 214 1/2 214 1/2 214 3/4 [214 1/2 +2 02Sep 222T222 1/2 220 1/2 220 3/4 220 1/2 220 l/zf. +4 02Dec 229 1/21230 1/4 228 1/4 228 3/4 228 1/4 228 1/21 +2 03Mar 237 3/4 238 1/4(236 1/2(236 3/4 236 1/2 [236 l/2[ + 2 03May] J 243) 243 1 242 242 1/2 242 [242 1/4 +4 03Jill [247 1/2[247 3/4|246 1/2 247 247 +4 03DCC 248 1/2 2491247 1/2f 249 248 1/2 a [24B 3/4 1~ -2 043ul 2561256 1/21 256 256 1/2 256 1/2 Unch '04060 ’’ 250 250(" 250 [~ 250 T 250 f~ Unch - f ----- , , - Mr”" 1 "■ 1 -i- -1 . j - 11 ■ 1 ■ - 11 -v , n " * iir ' ■' l r Month Opening High (Low " Settle NetCtig Soybeans [Month [opening[High [Low Ciosing['j.^<;;'settiejljNet Chg (t)2May462 1/2| 470 j 462(469 1/2 [467 1/2 [468 l/2f~ +56 02Jul 468 476 467 1/2 474 3/4 473 473 3/4 +6O ;02Aug _469|_ 46^ 1 474 473 [473 1/2( +6O 02Sep ■ 468 f 475 1 468[474 1/2 | 473 [473 3/4f +6O 02NOV 472(478 3/4[ 471 [477 1/2 476 1/2 477 +56 033 an 1476 1/2(482 l/2f474 1/2|482 1/2 f [482 1/2| +74 [o3Mar ! 483(486 1/2(482 l/2[486 1/2 f~ (486 1/2 +66 [o3Mayj 484 [ 4881 484 ( 488 488 +7O !03Jul | [ j _ f 489 n 489 +74 (03Nov I 485 489 f 485| 489 489 +74 Soybean Meal Month Opening (High (Low [ 'Clpsing^%^[^tt)(^ : fctetChjj (02May 156.3 158.3 155.5 157.5 157.3 157.4 +l3 [023ul 156.0 158.3 155.8 157.4 [ 157.0 |157.2 +l4 [o2Aug i 155.5|157.2(155.2_[ 156.5 | 156,5 +l5 02Sep 154.5 156.0 154.3 156.0 155.8 1155.9 +l9 (02Oct:j 154.0 155.0[ 153.81154.5 b 154.8 a|Ts4.6 +l4 02Dec 154.0 15 6. 0] 15 3.9 |155 ; 5 155.5 _ +l5 33an T Mlss.q|l_ " [i55.0[~ +l5; 155.0 155.0 155.0 155.0 ( ' ' r " 1153.5 b[ [o3Jan i 03Mar |o3May| |O3 Jul |o3Oct ' 03Dec{ Month Opening High ;Low Weekly Dairy Market Outlook Ken Bailey Penn State March 11,2002 Market Dealing With Surplus Loads Of Milk • Barrel demand looks good. • Surplus cream, butter prices weak. • Commercial disappearance for 2001. The market is dealing with surplus loads of milk because of an early spring flush in the Northeast and South. The good news, however, is that the market is getting -ready for strong sales for Easter/Passover. This is put ting a floor under cream sales, and hence butter prices. Cheese prices at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange last week rose a few pennies. Blocks rose from $1.1850 per pound on Mon day, March 4, to $1.21 by Friday, March 8. Barrels rose from $1.15 per pound on Monday to $l.lB by Friday. USDA reported that “most traders feel current down side price risk is minimal.” 154.5 a (1.54.0 153.5 a[153.0 152.5 b 153.5 a|T53.O 152.5 b 152.5 a 152.2 152.0 b 152.5 a 152.2 152.0 b ! ' Closing What does this mean? In the language of economics, it means some traders think that cheese prices have bottomed out and are on the rise. USDA also reported last week that a lot of barrel cheese is being sold because of strong food service promotions. The butter story is a mixed bag. Grade AA butter prices last week at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange fell from $1.2725 per pound on Monday to $1.2425 by Friday. Butter production across the U.S. is seasonally strong, and butter stocks at the end of Janu ary were up 48 percent relative to a year ago. However, USDA re ported, “Cream offerings remain heavy, although in some areas, ice cream, sour cream, cream cheese, whipping cream, and other cream-based items are ab sorbing some additional cream volumes for upcoming Easter/ Passover needs.” This is good news, because it indicates strong wholesale demand. + 18 + 10 +9 +4 +4 fettle Net Chg USD A announced the final numbers for commercial disap pearance for 2001. These num bers reflect the demand for milk and dairy products. Butter con sumption was down 2.1 percent in 2001 compared to a year earlier. This was due to very high wholesale and retail butter prices. American cheese and Other cheese consumption were up 3.1 and down 0.1 percent, respec tively. The strong sales for Amer ican cheese are surprising given U.S. milk production was down in 2001, cheese prices were strong, the U.S. economy experi enced a mild recession, and events surrounding the 9/11 trag edy. Nonfat dry milk consump tion was up 27.2 percent in 2001 over a year earlier. Again, this was due to the lower support BUSINESS PAGE APPEARS IN SECTION D See the latest in equipment and material news, promotions and new hires, and burgeoning ag ventures on the business news page located in Section D this issue! . Lean Hogs Date 03/13/02 *CASH* 0 5024 5024 5024 03/14/02 Apr 02 5677 572556005605 03/14/02 May 02 6570 657064706505 03/14/02 Jun 02 6587 659564956500 03/14/02 Jul 02 6320 634062506290 03/14/02 Aug 02 6017 6037 5975 5997 03/14/02 Oct 02 5117 512550755092 03/14/02 Dec 02 4890 489048404857 03/14/02 Feb 03 5025 5045 5020 5045 Composite Volume Open_lnt 03/13/02 10768 31017 Live Cattle Date 03/13/02 *CASH* 03/14/02 Apr 02 Jun 02 Aug 02 Oct 02 Dec 02 Feb 03 Apr 03 03/14/02 03/14/02 03/14/02 03/14/02 03/14/02 03/14/02 Pork Bellies Date 03/13/02 *CASH* 0 730073007300 unch 03/14/02 Mar 02 7920 795078707920 -150 03/14/02 May 02 8020 812079357942 -123 747 2473 03/14/02 Jul 02 8140 821080508055 -150 77 289 03/14/02 Augo2 7915 794078907890 -10 1 27 03/14/02 Feb 03 7055 706070057005 +5 10 18 03/14/02 Mar 03 7025 702570007000 unch 0 1 Composite Volume Open_lnt 03/13/02 851 2964 Oats iQ2Hay 208 211] 206 207 1/2 \ [207 1/2[ oituF 174 1/ 2 j 177 1/2 { 174 176 1/2 [176 1/2 146 1/2 146 1/2 146 146 a J 146 lQ2P>ec 144 3/4 r 145 144 1/2 144 1/2 [144 1/2 rdiMan _ _ _ r 147 a [ 1471 Unch [Month Opening price for nonfat dry milk and higher world prices for protein. Fluid milk consumption fell 0.5 percent. There is no ward yet from USD A regarding a possible butter/powder tilt. As of March 1, 2002, USDA had 829.3 million pounds of nonfat dry milk stored as uncommitted inventories under the dairy price support program. That compares to 475.6 million pounds the same time a year ago. This amount of powder is about equal to the volume of nonfat dry milk that would nor mally be consumed in the U.S. during an entire year. In fact, total nonfat dry milk consump tion in 2000 and 2001 was 770.8 and 982.3 million, respectively. Thus a butter/powder tilt is very likely to occur. ww* ■ x w iri . Previous Previous Open H.gh Low Last Chge Volume Qpen 0 0 5375 12711 563 3068 3893 9801 614 2110 177 1360 62 1034 47 776 37 157 _ ... , . _ . Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Vo , ume open Int 0 0 15053 36213 7162 30887 2509 14814 2174 11747 440 3600 125 1323 15 15 0 715071507150 7475 748573157320 6925 693067806822 6870 688267906822 7120 713070527080 7250 725071607200 7330 733572557320 7400 740073857400 .I- • , * , Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Vo | nm e Openjnt 0 0 16 156 -250 -130 -85 -40 -30 -27 -10 -25 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 re cord sheets or to develop livestock feed cost data, here’s last week’s average costs of various ingredients as compiled from regional reports across the state of Penn- sylvania. 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 2v 2 3? bu., 4 16 cwt Wheat, No 2 2 62 bu„ 4.38 cwt Bariev, No 3 1 81 bu , 3 88 cwt Oats, No 2 1 78 bu , 5.54 cwt Soybeans, No 1 4.29 bu , 7.16 cwt Far Corn 66.94 ton, 3 35 cwt Alfalfa Hay 124.25 ton, 6 21 cwt. Mixed Hay 123.75 ton, 6.19 cwt. Timothy Hay 120.00 ton, 6.0 cwt. + 2 + 16 +4 + 10