Al6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 6, 2002 GRAIN, CATTLE, HOG, & MILK BFP FUTURES MARKETS Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange Closing Bids: Thursday, April 4, 2002 Com 'ifofltjf{ffipenlnc}[High * Low ' l/4 202 3/4 200 1/2(201 1/2 |2Ol 3/4 (201 1/2| +2i 023uR 207 1/2 209 206 3/4(207 3/4 208 [207 3/4f +2 02Sep, 214 1/4(215 1/2 213 1/2 ]214 1/4 | 214 |o2Deo'i 222 1/4 223 3/4 221 3/4 222 1/4 [222 1/2 (222 1/4’ Unch| 230 1/2 231 1/2 230 1/4 230 3/4 | j230_3/4 JJnch! l/2 237 236 236 __TT 236 " 4 3/4 241 1/2 240 240 3/4 240 3/4 -4 tisaf 238 ’ 2397 ' 238 239 _ 239 -4 242 1/2 243 1/2 241 3/4 242 3/4 242 3/4 -4 BBT 250 1 T 250 L _249(249 1/2~| 1249 1/2| -4 253 253 1/2 253 253 253 -4 247(247 247(247 1/2 [~ [247 1/2[ +4 Soybeans l/2 [~ 463(456 3/4(458 1/2 (459 1/2~P 459[~ -26 jP[2ju|| 465 467 460 462 1/2 464 463 1/4| -22 (02|ffj 465 1/4 466 3/4 460 1/2 462 1/2 462 462 1/4 -30 463 464 1/2 457 1/2 458 1/2 458 458 1/4 -42 468 460 461 4613/4 461 1/2 -42 OSJanf 468| 472| 46S| 465 465| -44 — 1 1 1 r 1 1 OWM 473 475 468 1/2 469 469 -44 l/2|475 1/2| 470(470 1/2 (470 1/2| -40 oaiffilj 478 478 472 472 1/2 472 1/2 -40 OgHis 473 n 473 -30 t 6jjNa>| ' 480 r 480[ 475 j” 475 f 475 Soybean Meal 156.5 157.0i155.0l 155.4 155.3 155.41 15 05Sui7; 155.3 156.4 154.0 154.5 f 154.6 T 154.6 -16 *» ‘3Mayj' 151 ; 03 Juft; NAug _ [olsiep 150 150 151 ;o3ig gggjgl 150 Weekly Dairy Market Outlook Ken Bailey Penn State March 29,2002 MARKETS CLOSED FOR EASTER/PASSOVER • Market activity light this week. • Cheese and butter prices un changed. • Commercial disappearance numbers strange. The dairy markets at the Chi cago Mercantile Exchange were closed March 29 in observance of Good Friday. Markets reopened Monday, April 1. The short trading week didn’t offer much in the way of price in formation. Butter and cheese prices at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange were unchanged. Blocks were about $1.23 per pound and barrels were about 149.2 J 149.2 151.0 150.0 b 150.0 151.5 149.0 b 149.5 151.0 149.0 b 149.5 151.0 149.0 b 149.5 150.0 150.0 b $1.20 per pound. Grade AA but ter prices were unchanged at $1.2250-$1.2350 per pound. USDA reported numbers for commercial disappearance for milk and dairy products from November 2001-January 2002. The numbers were strange. But ter consumption during this peri od was up 11.9 percent. This is very strong. Looking at retail but ter prices over a similar time pe riod (December 2001-February 2002), prices were up about 14 percent. This is strange, I thought. Normally, consumption drops when retail prices rise. Here is what I pieced together. First, wholesale butter prices spiked in the fall of 2000, rising to more than $l.BO per pound by the first week in December. This had an adverse! affect IM I4abl-I I 149.2 150.1 150.2 a 149.5 149.5 a 149.5 149.5 a 149.5 149.5 a 150.3 150.5 a sumption of butter, particularly at the food-service level. As for retail, it was likely that retailers did not pass on all of the higher wholesale costs, since butter sold for less than $3 per pound. Now fast forward to November 2001-January 2002. Wholesale prices for butter fell considerably from the summer levels, from more than $2 per pound in Au gust to a low of $1.24 by the mid dle of December. Retail butter prices fell from summer levels, but not nearly as much as whole sale prices. The retail price of BUSINESS PAGE APPEARS IN SECTION C See the latest in equipment and material news, promotions and new hires, and burgeoning ag ventures on the business news page located in Section C this issue! Lean Hogs Date 04/03/02 *CASH* 04/04/02 Apr 02 04/04/02 May 02 04/04/02 Jun 02 04/04/02 04/04/02 04/04/02 04/04/02 04/04/02 Composite Volume Open_lnt 04/03/02 9834 36140 Live Cattle Date 04/03/02 *CASH* 0 710071007100 unch 04/04/02 Apro2 7180 718770127012 -150 -150 -150 -150 -150 -150 -120 04/04/02 Jun 02 6655 665564806480 04/04/02 04/04/02 04/04/02 04/04/02 04/04/02 Composite Volume Open_lnt 04/03/02 18015 103005 Pork Bellies Date 04/03/02 *CASH* , 0 670067006700 unch 04/04/02 May 02 7090 717069857065 -37 04/04/02 Jul 02 7190 726571007(35 -55 04/04/02 Aug 02 7050 7185 7015 7015 -35 04/04/02 Feb 03 6875 687568756875 +5 04/04/02 Mar 03 6845 684568456845 unch Composite Volume Open lnt 04/03/02 960 2820 Oats Oats -13 -10 -10 -10 ~ Ti. ui t Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Volume open lnt 0 0 3568 6437 1077 3834 4081 18317 587 2868 206 1787 190 1331 124 1191 1 372 0 480148014801 +l2B 4702 477246754695 -75 5730 575555975597 -200 5950 599057775777 -200 5810 584556355645 -190 5580 561054005405 -190 4755 476546004625 -147 4570457044404455 -105 4735 478047204720 -40 Jul 02 Aug 02 Oct 02 Dec 02 Feb 03 ~ T,- 1.1 i Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Volume openJnt 0 0 8081 21799 5488 38477 1856 19361 2020 15491 448 5579 105 1876 15 421 Aug 02 6600 660064326432 Oct 02 6870 687067056705 Dec 02 7045 705068856885 Feb 03 7145 714570057005 Apr 03 7170 717071207150 ~ t.. ut r a. /"'ll- Previous Previous? Open High Low Last Chge Volumeopen Int o a 780 144 36 04 1/2 15 1 / 168 1/2 172 144 1/4 42 3/4 butter in major urban markets fell from $3.70 per pound in Sep tember 2001 to $3.28 by February 2002. While retail customers faced some reduction in prices by the fall, food-service customers likely got a bigger discount be cause of lower wholesale prices. Overall, because of lower prices, butter consumption increased during this period relative to a year ago. Unlike cheese, butter con sumption is very sensitive to wholesale and retail prices. 215 1/2 215 1/4 168 1/2 169 142 144 142 142 147 To help fanners 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. Com, No.2y 2.34 bu., 4.18 cwt. Wheat, N 0.2 2.64 bu., 4.41 cwt. Barley, N 0.3 1.84 bu., 3.93 cwt. Oats, N 0.2 1.85 bu., 5.76 cwt. Soybeans, No.I —4.32 bu„ 7.21 cwt. Ear Corn 66,66 ton, 3 33 cwt. Alfalfa Hay 135 50 ton, 6.78 cwt. Mixed Hay 127.50 ton, 6.38 cwt. . . Ttraotbw fciavmU2lUX) ton> 6.o«:wk . . . 215 1/4 168 3/4 144 142 147 Average Farm Feed Costs for Handy Reference 2000 626 , 189 +9O -22 + 2 Unch