In the News

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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.1325	3.3875	3.2350
Soybeans	+0.0150	9.3900	9.9825
Wheat	-0.0650	4.0950	4.0125
Cattle	-0.42	105.95	112.475
Hogs	-3.05	63.08	58.70
Cotton	+0.82	68.61	67.75
Milk	-0.01	16.50	16.91
Crude Oil	-0.79	47.87	47.33

Corn fell for the fifth straight week, dropping to new contract lows and a 10-month low on a front-month basis as a mostly benign crop outlook and technical selling pressured the market. The market was also pressured by the Farm Journal (formerly Pro Farmer) crop tour, which found a variable crop that was better than expected in some areas. Meanwhile the tour found disappointing soybean pod counts in many locations, which helped to underpin soybean futures. The soy complex was also underpinned by news that the U.S. Commerce Department was moving to halt biodiesel imports from Argentina, which should boost soyoil demand domestically. Wheat futures continued their long slide on ample world supplies. Cotton futures climbed on concern about Harvey, which evolved from a tropical depression to a powerful hurricane during the course of the week, threatening crops along the Texas coast and into southern Louisiana. While most of the crop in this region was harvested, the storm did inflict some damage to cotton. The question now is what path the remnants of the storm take and whether the Delta will see a major impact. Rice futures were up on the week but remained rangebound.

In the livestock complex, lean hogs tumbled to multi-month lows, remaining under heavy pressure from falling wholesale pork values and rising hog supplies. Wednesday's monthly Cold Storage report showed frozen pork belly supplies at a record low, but prices continued to fall apart. The pork belly component of the cutout fell nearly 20% in the span of a week. Live cattle futures were choppy as traders awaited Friday's Cattle on Feed report. That report was friendly for the market, as it showed placements up 2.7% from a year earlier, compared to the average trade guess of 6.2%. Cash trade at $107 in the Plains was down $3 from the prior week, and wholesale beef prices continued to fall.

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