Cattle Fade Early Gains with Corn and Wheat on Month End Profit Taking

Cattle start higher on strong cash before end of month profit taking sets in. Corn and wheat also consolidate with an eye on weather while soybeans move higher. Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek has details.

Cattle start higher on Monday after a higher week in the futures and steady to higher cash.

The cattle futures made some new highs for the move before end of month profit taking set in according to Brad Kooima, Kooima Kooima Varilek.

He says the ability of cash to move higher last week in the North was a function of the tight supplies and packers bought nearly 93,000 head in the negotiated market as a result.

The five-area weighted average on cattle was $184.15, which was up from $182.67 last week.

Kooima says the packers have tried to squash the cash market with various action including slowing kills, but they lost leverage last week and so he thinks cash could be stronger again this week.

Corn and wheat also consolidated and see profit taking with an eye on weather.

Soybeans bucked the trend and moved higher following a strong rally in soybean meal on concerns about an Argentina workers strike at crushing plants.

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Dave Chatterton with Strategic Farm Marketing says the markets needs a catalyst like South American weather or demand to find a bottom.
Scott Varilek with Kooima Kooima Varilek says the outside market news has been a factor in cattle but the main catalyst for the selling has been sharply lower cash trade which started breaking early in the week.
Bryan Doherty with Total Farm Marketing says speculative selling is a common theme in the commodity markets.
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