Agriculture futures tumble, pork sinks on the CBOT

[April 28, 2009]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Agriculture futures fell Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade.

Wheat for July delivery dropped 23.75 cents to $5.195 a bushel, while July corn fell 5 cents to $3.8075 a bushel and July soybeans tumbled 37 cents to $9.97 a bushel. Oats for May delivery lost 6.25 cents to $1.87 a bushel.

Meanwhile, pork futures sank on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange amid rising concerns surrounding the global swine flu outbreak. Consumers are worried about catching the virus from the pork, analysts said, even as U.S. pork producers maintained that their product is safe and Americans cannot catch the virus while they cook their pork properly.

Multiple countries are increasing their screening of pig products from some U.S. states and Mexico, while China and Russia have issued outright bans on pork from affected areas and Indonesia is blocking all pork imports.

Beef futures also slipped.

June live cattle fell 0.8 cent to 81.8 cents a pound; May feeder cattle edged down 0.52 cent to 98.6 cents a pound; June lean hogs dropped 3 cents to 68.65 cents a pound; and May pork bellies sank 3 cents to 78.5 cents a pound.

[Associated Press]

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