GRAIN. CATTLE, HOG. & MILK BFP FUTURES MARKETS Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange Closing Bids: Thursday, April 10, 2003 Com 04/09/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 04/10/03 *CASH* MAY 03 JUL 03 SEP 03 DEC 03 MAR 04 MAY 04 JUL 04 SEP 04 04/10/03 04/10/03 DEC DEC Total 04/09/03 Soybeans 04/04/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 04/07/03 *CASH* MAY 03 JUL 03 AUG 03 SEP 03 NOV 03 JAN 04 MAR 04 MAY 04 JUL 04 NOV 04 Total 04/04/03 Soybean Meal 04/03/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 04/04/03 *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 Total 04/03/03 April 7,2003 CHEESE PRICES STRENGTHEN • Blocks, barrels show gains. • Butter is steady. • March Class 111 is $9.11 per CWT. USDA reports that cash cheese prices at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange rebounded to just High 2540 2416 2434 2424 2420 2470 2482 2520 2450 Open 2416 2432 2424 2414 2466 2482 2520 2450 2424 2384 2424 2384 Volume Open_lnt 54093 416318 High 5840 6020 5990 5854 5540 5274 5300 5310 5310 5310 5070 Open 5950 5960 5800 5490 5230 5250 5310 5306 5310 5060 Volume Qpen_lnt 43493 242204 Open High 17300 1718 1748 1708 1738 1665 1690 1593 1612 1520 1542 1512 1531 1519 1530 1535 1545 1550 1553 1560 1565 1555 1555 1550 1550 1507 1507 1515 1515 Volume Open_lnt 23427 151790 under support price levels. It seems that sides of process and block cheese to the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) may explain the price movement. As cheese plants gear up for sales to the government under the price support program, there is less need to discount cheese prices. Butter was relatively steady Low 2540 2380 2394 2390 2392 2444 2480 2496 2440 Last 2540 2386 2402 2394 2394 2444 2480 2500 2440 2416 2384 2414 2384 Last 5840 5986 5972 5836 5520 5264 5284 5310 5310 5310 5062 Low 5840 5950 5940 5790 5490 5224 5250 5310 5294 5310 5060 Last 17300 1745 1736 1689 1611 1538 1529 1528 1536 1546 1555 1545 1545 1507 1510 Low 17300 1715 1705 1663 1593 1518 1511 1519 1532 1545 1552 1545 1545 1507 1510 this week, remaining 4 cents a pound above support price levels. USDA reports that production of cream-based holiday items for the upcoming Easter and Passo ver season may explain the slight rise in wholesale butter prices at the Chicago Mercantile Ex change. USDA announced the Class 111 price for March last week. The Class 111 price was $9.11 per CWT, well below the support price of $9.80 per CWT and $0.55 per CWT below the Febru ary Class 111 price. The average cheese price used to compute the March Class 111 price was See the latest in equipment and material news, promotions and new hires, and burgeoning ag ventures on the business news page located on Page D 2 this issue! Lean Hogs Date 04/09/03 *CASH* 04/10/03 Apr 03 04/10/03 May 03 04/10/03 Jun 03 04/10/03 Jul 03 04/10/03 Aug 03 04/10/03 Oct 03 04/10/03 Dec 03 04/10/03 Feb 04 04/10/03 Apr 04 Chge Composite Volume Open_lnt 04/09/03 5807 40745 Live Cattle Date -12 -12 04/09/03 *CASH* 04/10/03 Apr 03 04/10/03 May 03 04/10/03 Jun 03 04/10/03 Jul 03 04/10/03 Aug 03 04/10/03 Oct 03 04/10/03 Dec 03 04/10/03 Feb 04 04/10/03 Apr 04 Chge + 43 + 80 + 82 + 84 +7O +7O + 64 + 64 + 64 + 64 +2 Composite Volume Open_lnt 04/09/03 17734 99271 Pork Bellies Date 04/09/03 *CASH* 0 870087008700 04/10/03 May 03 8340'8340 8140 8145 04/10/03 Jul 03 8480 848082408240 04/10/03 Aug 03 8250 825080508050 04/10/03 Feb 04 7820 782077257725 04/10/03 Mar 04 7725 7725 7725 7725 Composite Volume Open_lnt 04/09/03 1429 3175 Oats 04/07/03 04/08/03 04/08/03 04/08/03 04/08/03 04/08/03 04/08/03 Total 04/07/03 „ TI . , , w Previous Previous OpenH.gh Low Last Chge Volume Qpel) ,„ t 0 0 1507 3905 153 2536 3420 21414 375 4276 190 4706 100 2342 61 1042 0 378 1 146 0 474547454745 4975 498049204935 5520 553054255452 5790 582557105755 5810 584057555775 5855 585557605760 5035504549925015 5072507250105010 5525 552554755500 5865 587058605870 ~ , , , . Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Vo|ume open 0 0 6047 15280 156 2612 8060 48429 0 60 2120 14042 702 10849 482 5558 162 2238 5 203 0 801880188018 +135 7792 779777557770 -37 7485 750574707502 -3 7195 719571477167 -25 6855 685568556855 -5 6830 683067926820 -2 7012 701269706982 -25 7195 721571627172 -15 7305 730772607260 -55 7375 737573607370 -15 „ ~ , Previous Previous Open High Low Last Chge Vo|ume ope „ In , 0 0 1042 2054 362 1067 24 46 1 7 0 I Open *CASH* MAY 03 JUL 03 SEP 03 DEC 03 MAR 04 MAY 04 1882 1632 1492 1474 1490 1580 Volume Qpen_lnt 904 6122 $1.0780 per pound. Weak cheese market conditions clearly result ed in a low Class 111 price. The good news is that the dairy futures markets at the Chi cago Mercantile Exchange are showing signs of strength. As of April 4, 2003, Class 111 futures indicate that prices for Class 111 milk will rise above $lO per CWT by June and will peak at $11.83 by October. Thus there appears to be more price strength in the latter months of the year. This is an indication that the market ex pects the milk supply to correct itself and for demand to stabilize later in the year. +6l -55 -108 -102 -85 -100 -35 -70 -62 -35 -400 -285 -300 -300 -100 -100 High 2062 1904 1634 1492 1474 1490 1580 Low 2062 1874 1612 1492 1464 1490 1580 Average Farm Feed Costs for Handy Reference 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 2.89 bu., 5.16 cwt. Wheat, N 0.2 3.07 bu., 5.12 cwt. Barley, N 0.3 2.21 bu., 4.73 cwt. Oats, N 0.2 2.10 bu., 6.54 cwt. Soybeans, No.l 5.70 bu., 9.52 cwt. Ear Com 88.78 ton, 4.44 cwt. Alfalfa Hay 147.75 ton, 7.39 cwt. Mixed Hay 140.00 ton, 7.0 cwt. Timothy Hay 115.00 ton, 5.75 cwt. Chge + 36 -10 -12 -6 -4 -30 unch Last 2062 1876 1612 1492 1464 1490 1580