TOP STORIES

 
Hog Slaughter Projected 440,000; Cattle 113,000 - Jan 18 
                                 Today     Week Ago    Year Ago 
Hogs                            440,000     441,000     430,213 
Cattle                          113,000     115,000     111,511 
 
                                       Today 
                                  Hogs      Cattle 
Allendale Inc.                  440,000     110,000 
HedgersEdge/RJ O'Brien          440,000     116,000 
 
Note: Averages of the estimates are rounded to nearest 1,000 head. 
 

STORIES OF INTEREST

Corn, Soybeans Retreat After Rally -- Market Talk

9:14 ET - Corn and soybean futures ease as the US dollar firms and traders book profits after prices notched multimonth highs in the previous session. Crop prices shot to 6-month highs yesterday thanks to wet weather in Argentina, which is threatening to curb output there, potentially increasing demand for US supplies. The rally falters in early deals, however, with adverse conditions largely figured into crop prices in the short term and profit-taking weighing on corn and soybean markets after three straight days of gains. CBOT January soybeans slide 0.5% to $10.64 1/4/bu while March corn dips 0.3% to $3.64 1/2 and wheat is mixed. (jesse.newman@wsj.com; @jessenewman13)

THE MARKETS

US Cattle Traders Await News of Cash Trade -- Market Talk

10:11 ET - US cattle traders are closely watching how meatpackers and feedyards negotiate for livestock in the cash markets, after producers eked out narrow gains last week. Beef processors paid $1.19/lb live on average in the most recent sales, which will serve as a benchmark for sellers on the Fed Cattle Exchange auction at 11am ET. In the hog markets, an estimated 2.347 million pigs will be processed through Saturday, including 280,000 head this weekend, as plants make up for lost production due to ice storms Sunday and Monday. CME February live-cattle futures rise 0.3 cent to $1.19875/lb. (kelsey.gee@wsj.com; @kelseykgee)

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 18, 2017 10:42 ET (15:42 GMT)