GRAIN, CATTLE. HOG,
& MILK BFP
FUTURES MARKETS
Markets Courtesy of Chicago Board and Mercantile Exchange
Closing Bids; Thursday, May 8, 2003
Com
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
*CASH*
MAY 03
JUL 03
SEP 03
DEC 03
MAR 04
MAY 04
JUL 04
SEP 04
DEC 04
DEC 05
Total
04/03/03
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
May 4,2003
ECONOMY SENDS
MIXED SIGNALS
• U.S. GDP weak, unemploy
ment worse.
• Consumer confidence up.
• Demand so far remains
weak.
I’ve been out of the country for
three weeks and it seems the
markets have not changed much.
I just returned fronj .a, yolunteer
High
2516
2394
2404
2400
2402
2454
2484
2504
2420
2410
2380
Open
2382
2386
2384
2394
2450
2474
2496
2420
2396
2380
Volume Open_lnt
62063 419289
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
1748
1738
1690
1612
1542
1531
1530
1545
1553
1565
1555
1550
1507
1515
1718
1708
1665
1593
1520
1512
1519
1535
1550
1560
1555
1550
1507
1515
Volume Open_lnt
23427 151790
assignment in Moldova. Last
week’s commodity reports from
the Chicago Mercantile Ex
change show more of the same
weak commodity prices for butter
and cheese. The futures markets
indicate outlook for Class 111
prices is still weak. And the news
about the overall economy is
mixed.
The European news kept talk
ing about la “Baghdad Bounce;*’ >.
Last
2516
2390
2396
2390
2396
2450
2482
2502
2420
2410
2380
Low
2516
2376
2384
2382
2392
2446
2474
2494
2420
2394
2380
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
1589
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
The hope was that a successful
end to the Iraq conflict would im
mediately lead to a stronger U.S.
and European economy. It’s still
too early to tell if that is going to
happen. The nation’s unemploy
ment rate rose to 6 percent in
April, and the first quarter Gross
National Product was half what
market watchers hoped for.
Yet consumer confidence is up
for the first time in months. The
Conference Board reported that
April’s index for consumer confi
dence rose sharply from the
month before, effectively ending
a four-month period of declining
confidence in the economy. That
is very important to the U.S.
dairy industry. More consumer
spending could result in greater
demand for dairy products.
There is some good market
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 0 this Issue!
t 1 1 I «| ' l - « j, *
Lean Hogs
Date
05/07/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
Chge
-14
+ 2
+ 4
+ 2
unch
unch
-2
unch
unch
+ 10
+4
Composite Volume Open_lnt
05/07/03 10288 40586
Live Cattle
Date
05/07/03 *CASH*
05/08/03 May 03
05/08/03 Jim 03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
05/08/03
Chge
+ 43
+ 80
+ 82
+ 84
+ 70
+ 70
+ 64
+ 64
+ 64
+ 64
+ 2
Composite Volume Open_lnt
05/07/03 18019 103483
Pork Bellies
Date
05/07/03 *CASH* 0 930093009300 unch
05/08/03 May 03 9450 970094209690 +195
05/08/03 Jul 03 9135931591009275 +lO3
05/08/03 Aug 03 8940 909088858990 +4O
05/08/03 Feb 04 7890 789078757875 unch
05/08/03 Mar 04 7892 789278907892 -88
Composite Volume Open_lnt
05/07/03 715 3171
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
~ • ■_ i . Previous Previous
Open High l,«» 1-astChge yo|u|nc open ln ,
0 0
322 2006
5063 18920
3160 8101
763 5021
621 3456
263 2279
49 480
41 283
6 39
CASH" 0 558555855585 +lO3
May 03 5825 5872 5825 5870 +63
Jim 03 6377 6425 63456420 +63
Jul 03 6472 654064556537 +55
Aug 03 6350 63806335 6370 +l5
Oct 03 5485 550054755495 -7
Dec 03 5325 5345 53205325 -12
Feb 04 5665 5675 56505672 -8
Apr 04 5960 596059255960 unch
Jun 04 6482 648564556467 -13
~ n- 1.1 i * Previous Previous
Open High bow Last Chge Vo|ume o|)en |n(
0 0
345 1945
8633 45665
0 770077007700 +5O
7635 763575977620 -10
7315 733573027310 +8
6945 698069456980
6895 690568756890
7097 710270607065
7335 734573127317
7465 747074577462
7570 757075457560
7150 715071507150
Jul 03
Aug 03
Oct 03
Dec 03
Feb 04
Apr 04
Jun 04
~ i,. , i ¥ Previous Previous
Open High Low La S . Chge Volume Qpen
0 0
136 335
517 2564
49 216
13 55
0 I
Open
*CASH*
MAY 03
JUL 03
SEP 03
DEC 03
MAR 04
MAY 04
1882
1632
1492
1474
1490
1580
Volume Open_lnt
904 6122
news. By now everyone knows
the April federal order class
prices. The Class 111 price rose
$0.30 per CWT to $9.41 per
CWT as cheese prices marginally
strengthened. Also, commercial
disappearance numbers for the
period December 2002-February
2003 show some modest increases
in “Other Cheese” (mainly moz
zarella) and fluid milk sales.
It’s still early in the season to
be talking about a market
change. The weather has not yet
turned to summer heat, and the
direction for the overall U.S.
economy is still uncertain. Also,
the milk production report has
yet to confirm that dairy produc
ers are responding to lower milk
prices by reducing supplies. An
other month will provide more
market intelligence.
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 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.2y 2.95 bu., 5.28 cwt.
Wheat, N 0.2 3.07 bu., 5.12 cwt.
Barley, N 0.3 2.18 bu., 4.67 cwt.
Oats, N 0.2 2.21 bu., 6.89 cwt.
Soybeans, No.l 5.81 bu., 9.7 cwt.
Ear Corn 88.88 ton, 4.44 cwt.
Alfalfa Hay 162.50 ton, 8.13 cwt.
Mixed Hay 155.00 ton, 7.75 cwt,
Timothy Hay 156.25 ton, 7.81 cwt.
i ♦ i. I « II . I HMII
I *
160
26170
16982
8259
3495
787
20
11
4754
2511
1261
380
104
20
Chge
+ 36
-10
-12
-6
-4
-30
unch
Last
2062
1876
1612
1492
1464
1490
1580