“Active weather prevailed across much of the South, East, and Midwest, as well as parts of the Plains, into the middle of July, followed by a southward shift in widespread shower activity,” today's report says.
Given last year’s pandemic-related disruptions to the cattle herd, the data could receive more market attention than it typically does, with traders likely to take particular note of USDA’s calf crop estimate.
On average, analysts surveyed by Reuters expect USDA’s Cattle on Feed Report to show there were around 11.324 million head of cattle on feed as of July 1, down 1% from year-ago levels.
The Biden administration has delayed its annual rulemaking process regarding its biofuel blending mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) for 2021 (2022 for biodiesel), Reuters says in an exclusive report.
Export inspections of corn, soybeans and wheat were all in line with expectations, with the corn tally holding above 1 MMT and wheat inspections nearing 500,000 MT. Soybean futures were light, as expected.
Corn and wheat futures are higher with weakness in the soy oil market limiting buyer interest in soybeans. Cattle futures are under pressure with lean hogs mixed.
“A return of La Nina could aggravate an already exceptional drought in south-central Brazil that has resulted in one of the driest periods in over 90 years," says South American Crop Consultant Dr. Michael Cordonnier.
Livestock and poultry producers who suffered losses during the Covid-19 pandemic due to insufficient access to processing can apply for aid under USDA's Pandemic Livestock Indemnity Program from July 20 to Sept. 17.
Corn soybean and spring wheat futures are mildly higher this morning. Cattle futures are mostly weaker with hog futures off to a firmer start to the week.
“Another week of hot, dry weather in the Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, Northern Plains, and Upper Midwest led to the expansion of drought conditions,” today’s National Drought Monitory summary says.
“Producers in June were less optimistic about both current conditions on their farming operations as well as their expectations for the future,” with the former driving the decline, according to today’s report.
Inspections of corn and soybeans were in line with expectations the week ended July 1, though expectations for soybean shipments were admittedly light. Wheat inspections fell just short of expectations.
A stalled frontal boundary brought widespread, heavy rain and flash flooding to parts of the lower Midwest. But the Upper Midwest largely missed out on the heaviest rains, maintaining drought concerns.
The bulk of these big new-crop soybean sales was known via USDA’s daily reporting service. Old-crop sales were light, as expected, but they were able to stay in positive territory.
Corn planted acres climbed from March intentions, but by around 1.1 million acres less than analysts expected. USDA’s June 1 stocks estimates came in on the friendly side of expectations for corn, soybeans and wheat.
