Source: Texas Department of Agriculture
For the week ending July 25, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady, with instances of sales ranging from $1 to $12 lower per hundredweight (cwt). Texas weekly direct feeder cattle sales were steady to $2 higher, with instances of up to $4 higher early in the week. However, weakness was noted later in the week as bids began to drop again. Wholesale beef values were lower, with Choice Grade losing $2.60 to close at $230.70 per cwt and Select Grade losing $1.16 to close at $228.23 per cwt. Net export sales totaling 10,100 metric tons (MT) for July 10 –16 were down 12 percent from the previous week. Export shipments of 12,800 MT were up nine percent from the previous week. Shipments primarily went to Japan, South Korea and Mexico.
Cotton cash prices were 0.25 cents higher than the previous week and closed at 61.38 cents per pound. October futures prices settled at 65.84 cents per pound, 0.03 cents lower than last week. For the reporting period of July 13 – 19, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that cotton planting was complete. Sixty-eight percent of cotton acreage is in the squaring stage, up 17 percentage points from the previous week but down 10 percentage points from last year. Net export cotton sales were up 79 percent from the previous week’s sales. Shipments were up 27 percent from the previous week but down nine percent from the average.
Wheat cash and futures prices both lost $0.40 to settle at $4.52 per bushel and $5.07 per bushel, respectively. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that 97 percent of the Texas wheat crop has been harvested, with 47 percent of wheat acreage in good to excellent condition. Net export sales for wheat were 502,800 MT, with increases reported for Chile, China and the Philippines.
Texas corn prices were lower, with cash prices down to $4.18 per bushel and futures prices down to $3.93 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported 75 percent of the Texas corn crop is in the silking stage, with 63 percent of corn acreage in good to excellent condition. Corn export sales were down 33 percent from the previous week and 54 percent from the prior four-week average. Export shipments were two percent higher than the previous week and nine percent higher than the average.
This week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed a slight worsening of drought conditions for the state, with 4.18 percent of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity. Additionally, none of the state remains in moderate, severe, extreme or exceptional drought. On the national level, drought conditions worsened slightly, with nearly 36 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought, up slightly from last week.
Additional information on agricultural weather, crop progress and agricultural markets can be found on the TDA Market News page.

MBF = thousand board feet.
All cash prices above are market averages for locations covered by the USDA Market News program and do not reflect any particular sale at any specific location. Feeder cattle prices are for Texas direct sales of 650-850 pound medium and large No.1 steers for current delivery. Futures prices are quoted for the nearest month contract on the last trading day of the week.
Timber prices are from the Texas A&M Forest Service, bimonthly “Texas Timber Price Trends.”
For additional information, contact TDA at 800-835-5832 or visit www.TexasAgriculture.gov.