For the week ending June 20, 2015, Texas auctions quoted feeder cattle prices mostly steady, with instances of sales ranging from $6 lower to $10 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Texas weekly direct feeder cattle sales were steady to $4 higher. Wholesale beef values were higher, with Choice Grade gaining $5.60 to close at $251.32 per cwt and Select Grade gaining $5.81 to close at $246.23 per cwt. Net export sales for June 5-11were down 50 percent from the previous week. Export shipments were up one percent from the previous week, and shipments primarily went to Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea.
Cotton cash prices were 0.50 cents lower than the previous week and closed at 61.88 cents per pound. July futures prices settled at 63.32 cents per pound, 0.75 cents lower than last week. For the reporting period of June 8-14, the USDA NASS Texas field office indicated that row crops across the state continued to progress as planting continued in many areas. Eighty-eight percent of cotton acreage has been planted. That’s up 13 percentage points from the previous week but down four percentage points from last year. Net export cotton sales were up 21 percent from the previous week’s sales. Shipments were down 33 percent from the previous week and 36 percent from the average.
Wheat cash prices lost $0.23 to settle at $4.58 per bushel. Futures prices also lost $0.23 to settle at $5.03 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported that 47 percent of the Texas wheat crop has been harvested, with 48 percent of the acreage in good-to-excellent condition. Eighty percent of the Texas Winter Wheat crop remains in fair-to-excellent condition. Net export sales for wheat were 315,700 metric tons (MT). The primary destinations were Japan, Mexico and Iraq.
Texas corn prices were steady to higher, with cash prices up to $3.78 per bushel and futures prices remaining at $3.53 per bushel. The USDA NASS Texas field office reported 94 percent of the planted Texas corn crop has emerged, which is six percentage points below this same point last year. Ninety-eight percent of Texas corn acreage had been planted, which is up five percentage points from last week but down two percentage points from the same period last year. Corn export sales were up 27 percent from the previous week and three percent from the four-week average. Export shipments were 27 percent higher than the previous week and six percent higher than the average.
According to USDA NASS, areas of the Plains, Cross Timbers and Upper Coast received upwards of four inches of rainfall, with a few areas receiving more than six inches. Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor for Texas showed a slight improvement in drought conditions for the state, with only about 6.8 percent of Texas still in some stage of drought intensity. Additionally, none of the state remains in severe, extreme or exceptional drought, that’s down nearly 50 percent from three months ago. On the national level, drought conditions improved slightly, with nearly 40 percent of the U.S. experiencing abnormal dryness or some degree of drought.
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.
Source: Texas Department of Agriculture