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Good Morning farm country. Davis Michaelsen here with your morning update for Thursday, May 13. From Pro Farmer’s First Thing Today, these are some of the stories we are watching this morning:
Corn futures faced pressure overnight and futures are currently trading low-range and down 8 to 14 cents, with July leading losses. Soybean futures are mostly 8 to 18 cents lower, with new-crop leading to the downside. After the red-hot rally, a pullback is healthy and so far has done little to alter the bullish posture of these markets. HRW wheat is 5 to 8 cents lower and SRW wheat is down 6 to 7 cents lower, extending these markets’ recent sideways action. HRS wheat futures are down 1 to 6 cents. The U.S. dollar index is posting a corrective bounce. Crude oil futures are posting solid losses on news the Colonial pipeline system is reopening.
Operators of the 5,500-mile Colonial pipeline said it restarted operations late Wednesday, but said it will still take time for its operations to return to normal.
The Consumer Price Index released Wednesday showed that consumer prices rose 4.2% in April from a year earlier. That was the highest jump since September 2008 and well above what analysts were forecasting. If inflation persists, central bankers would have to abandon plans to keep their easy-money policies in place until the labor market is fully healed. But Fed officials delivering remarks Wednesday did not signal any shift in the Fed’s view that the situation with inflation will be transitory.
In a clear voice vote, House Republicans led by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) voted to remove Wyoming lawmaker Liz Cheney as the party’s No. 3 leader in the House. McCarthy quickly moved to build support for replacing Cheney, with New York’s Representative Elise Stefanik, a more moderate lawmaker.
“Exceptionally good” operating performance for JBS’s U.S. meat operations helped swing meatpacker JBS back to profitability in the first quarter, with the world’s largest meatpacker noting strong demand for meat as U.S. restaurants started to reopen. It also said strong exports from the U.S. to Asian countries also helped it to post a net profit.
Some light cash cattle trade got started yesterday generally steady to up slightly relative to last week’s trade. This week’s kill is lagging the week prior by roughly 2%, with the market concerned about a shortage of workers at a time when beef demand is soaring and market-ready supplies are abundant.
Average hog weights in the Iowa/southern Minnesota/South Dakota market dropped 1.2 lbs. to 283.9 lbs. the week ending May 8, which is 11.2 lbs. under year-ago levels. Supplies are tightening seasonally, which has supported cash prices.
