 991253 Farm Prices End 1999 With Further DeclinesDecember 31, 1999 Washington - Commodity prices for American farmers ended 1999 on a sluggish note, with consumer demand for meat pushing hogs and cattle higher while soybeans, wheat and milk slumped. Overall crop prices paid to farmers in December were two percent lower than in November, and about seven percent under the level of December 1998, the USDA said in its monthly farm-price report. Milk prices in December plunged $1.90 per cwt to $12.40 per cwt. That marked a steep decline from one year ago for both fluid and manufacturing-grade milk. Wheat prices skidded 23 cents in December to average $2.43 a bushel. The declines offset higher prices for livestock. Hog prices in December rose $2.00 per hundredweight to $35.40, up from $20.70 per cwt one year ago, the USDA said. Beef cattle commanded an average $66.40 in December, nearly $10 higher than one year ago.
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