Al6-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 5, 2003
GRAIN, CATTLE, HOG,
& MILK BFP
FUTURES MARKETS
Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange
Closing Bids: Thursday, April 3, 2003
Com
04/02/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
*CASH*
MAY 03
JUL 03
SEP 03
DEC 03
MAR 04
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
MAY
JUL
SEP
DEC
DEC
Total
04/02/03
Soybeans
04/02/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
*CASH*
MAY 03
JUL 03
AUG 03
SEP 03
NOV 03
JAN 04
MAR 04
MAY 04
JUL 04
NOV 04
Total
04/02/03
Soybean Meal
*CASH*
MAY 03
JUL 03
AUG 03
SEP 03
OCT 03
DEC 03
JAN 04
MAR 04
MAY 04
JUL 04
AUG 04
SEP 04
OCT 04
DEC 04
04/02/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
Total
04/02/03
March 28,2003
DAIRY PRODUCTS HEAD
FOR THE CCC
• Butter entering the CCC.
• Cheese still below support.
• Market outlook.
This week marks a turning
point in the dairy price support
program. For the first time in
many years, surplus butter, non
fat dry milk, and cheese all
High
2532
2394
2400
2396
2410
2462
Open
2386
2390
2386
2394
2446
2490
2510
2420
2404
2374
2480
2504
2420
2400
2374
Volume Qpen_lnt
97136 424683
High
5810
5916
5884
5754
5430
5186
5210
5234
5204
5214
5070
Open
5870
5834
5700
5400
5164
5190
5210
5204
5214
5070
Volume Qpen_lnt
80917 237474
Open High
17500
1736 1745
1722 1730
1673 1678
1599 1604
1525 1530
1520 1523
1524 1527
1538 1540
1550 1550
1560 1560
1550 1550
1545 1545
1510 1514
1505 1514
Volume Qpen_lnt
24459 150288
three dairy products are mov
ing into Commodity Credit Cor
poration (CCC) storage. For the
week ending March 28, the CCC
purchased 1,134,611 pounds of
butter, 2,734,876 pounds of
cheese, and 10,635,864 pounds of
nonfat dry milk.
The good news is that this
movement of surplus inventory
into the CCC will help support
Last
2532
2386
2392
2386
2396
2450
Low
2532
2366
2374
2380
2394
2446
2480
2496
2420
2394
2374
2484
2502
2420
2400
2374
Last
5810
5852
5826
5700
5400
5164
5190
5214
5204
5214
5070
Low
5810
5824
5800
5674
5390
5150
5180
5204
5204
5214
5070
Last
17500
1718
1711
1666
1594
1520
1514
1514
1525
1535
1545
1535
1535
1501
1501
Low
17500
1715
1708
1665
1593
1518
1512
1514
1525
1535
1545
1535
1535
1501
1501
Class 111 and IV milk prices. The
bad news is that this inventory in
government storage will over
hang the market, extending the
period of low milk prices.
Market cheese prices in Chica
go continued to fall below sup
port levels. For the week of
March 24-28, the block cheese
price averaged $1.0840 per
pound, below the support price of
$1.1314 per pound. This of
course frustrates dairy producers
who understand that the dairy
price support program is de
signed to return a Class 111 value
above $9.80 per CWT. The dairy
futures contracts for Class 111 are
estimating a Class 111 price of
$9.10 per CWT for March 2003.
The reason for these low cash
market prices is because most
cheese processors are set up to
furnish cheese to real commercial
customers. It is a significant
change to their operations to sud
denly ship dairy products to a
USDA storage cite. The packag
ing, inspection, transportation.
Lean Hogs
Date
04/02/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
Chge
+ 6
-14
-12
-16
-24
-24
-16
-20
-12
-12
-6
Composite Volume Open_lnt
04/02/03 11473 42082
Live Cattle
Date
04/02/03 *CASH*
04/03/03 Apr 03
04/03/03 May 03
04/03/03 Jun 03
04/03/03 Jul 03
04/03/03 Aug 03
04/03/03 Oct 03
04/03/03 Dec 03
04/03/03 Feb 04
04/03/03 Apr 04
Chge
+ 130
-14
-16
-10
unch
-4
-10
-14
-24
-10
unch
Composite Volume Open_lnt
04/02/03 22245 99322
Pork Bellies
Date
04/02/03 *CASH ,; 0 910091009100 +2OO
04/03/03 May 03 9085 9085 89508970 -95
04/03/03 Jul 03 9120 913089859045 -75
04/03/03 Aug 03 8785 8845 87858785 -40
04/03/03 Feb 04 7992 799279927992 -8
04/03/03 Mar 04 8000 8000 8000 8000 unch
Chge
+ 300
-21
-16
-9
-7
-7
-7
-7
-10
-10
-7
-7
Composite Volume Open_lnt
04/02/03 1179 3229
Oats
04/02/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
04/03/03
-5
-5
unch
Total
04/02/03
~ TI . , . , Pre\ious Previous
Open High Um hast Chge Vo| „ m( . ope „_|„,
0 o
2888 6378
234 2307
6111 21126
0 447144714471
4970 499549304985
5630 567055905630
5870 590057905885
CASH
Apr 03
May 03
Jun 03
5890 591058105882
5825 587557905820
5132 519051305160
5152519051455155
5660 566256605660
5955 599059555980
Jul 03
Aug 03
Oct 03
Dec 03
Feb 04
Apr 04
~ n. l, T Previous Previous
Open High Low Last Chge Vo|unle open , nt
0 0
7681 23461
380 2327
10108 44134
6 58
2623 13175
960 9592
320 4485
157 1951
9 137
0 780078007800 unch
7740 774576707687 -25
7460 748573857440 -7
7190 719071007130 -15
6840 687068406840 -10
6835 684567806802 -10
6997 701069656972 -15
7150 716071207130 -2
7280 728572457250 -10
7370 737073507350 -10
„ ... , . _ ,Previous Previous
Open High Low Last Chge ... , .
* b Volume Open_lnt
0 0
924 2280
254 913
0 31
1 4
0 I
Open
*CASH*
MAY 03
JUL 03
SEP 03
DEC 03
MAR 04
MAY 04
1846
1630
1514
1480
1550
1580
Volume Open_lnt
485 6101
and financing are all different.
Hence many processors try to
avoid this transaction. The result
has been falling wholesale prices
for cheese.
Butter prices remain a nickel a
pound above support, however.
Grade AA butter averaged
$1.0908 per pound for the week
ending March 28. This is a bit
surprising given the enormous in
ventory of butter in commercial
warehouses. Nonetheless, we are
approaching the Easter/Passover
Holidays and demand for butter
strengthens.
The outlook still looks uncer
tain. It appears that March will
be the low point for Class 111
prices for the year. One must
identify the bottom before prices
will improve. The Chicago Mer
cantile Exchange futures markets
are expecting milk prices to im
prove thereafter. Still, there are
many uncertainties, including:
• What impact will the Iraqi
conflict have on the dairy indus
try?
-23
+23
-20
+5O
+5O
-7
+3O
+5
unch
unch
High
2020
1870
1630
1514
1480
1550
1580
Low
2020
1840
1612
1504
1480
1550
1580
• How long before this conflict
will be resolved?
• Will consumer
improve thereafter?
• Will U.S. business activity
improve?
This industry needs growth in
the general economy.
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.
Com, No.2y 2.92 bu., 5.22 cwt.
Wheat, N 0.2 3.09 bu., 5.16 cwt.
Barley, N 0.3 2.22 bu., 4.74 cwt.
Oats, N 0.2 2.11 bu., 6.57 cwt.
Soybeans, No.l 5.66 bu., 9.46 cwt.
Ear Corn 88.41 ton, 4.42 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay —158.00 ton, 7.9 cwt.
Mixed Hay 151.25 ton, 7.56 cwt.
Timothy Hay 148.75 ton, 7.44 cwt.
3968
4471
2224
908
358
141
1174
534
324
203
Chge
-2
-2
-6
Last
2020
1842
1620
1504
1480
1550
1580
-12
unch
unch
unch
confidence