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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.0050	3.3450	3.6775
Soybeans	+0.2600	10.3250	9.8300
Wheat	-0.1750	4.0775	4.9625
Cattle	+3.13	113.08	144.93
Hogs	-6.30	68.98	79.85
Cotton	+1.64	74.16	63.89
Milk	-0.01	15.26	16.32
Crude Oil	-2.59	41.60	48.79

Corn and wheat futures continued to sag amid pressure from abundant supplies and technical selling, although the grains complex got a boost on Friday from a plunge in the U.S. dollar. That pushed corn back close to unchanged on the week. Strong crop ratings and potential hang over the corn market, although there is still uncertainty about grain fill. Nearby Chicago wheat futures fell to a new 10-year-low during the week, with ongoing declines in the Western Europe crop outlook failing to stem the declines. Soybeans ended the week higher due to the Friday rally on the dollar, however the U.S. weather outlook for August is favorable for beans, and bearish for prices. Cotton futures were up on the week on concern about heat and dryness in West Texas, along with strong weekly export sales and the drop in the dollar. Rice futures tumbled to new contract lows on light demand and a benign U.S. crop outlook.

It was another wild week in the livestock complex, as lean hog futures melted down and hit new contract lows. Ample hog supplies kept cash hog prices on the defensive, and meanwhile hot weather slowed pork demand. Wholesale pork prices fell, led by a plunge in pork bellies, which caused a significant tightening in packer margins. Hog futures have no clear technical support, but are at this stage oversold. Live cattle futures surged to start the week, climbing limit-up on the prior week's bullish Cattle on Feed report. The market rallied through Wednesday to a three-week high, but then reversed course on Thursday and faded into the end of the week. The choice beef cutout value was flat on the week and hovering near its lowest level since late December, down nearly 15% from a year ago.

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	More Detail

The map shows vegetation is greener than normal throughout the Central Great Plains and the northern parts of Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota. Lower than normal green plant density prevails over some Midwestern states, and north to south for most eastern states. Brown areas suggest the potential for lower than normal crop yields and dark green areas suggest the potential for better than normal yields.