In the News

Agri Marketing's March issue will include an update on the Dairy market. Coming in April: a Salute to the Nat'l Assn of Farm Broadcasting's (NAFB) 75th anniversary!

WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	+0.0050	3.7475	3.6775
Soybeans	-0.0700	9.0750	10.2425
Wheat	-0.1300	5.0425	4.6175
Cattle	-0.75	127.18	127.25
Hogs	+1.10	59.53	69.73
Cotton	-2.33	70.22	75.41
Milk	-0.07	14.52	14.04
Crude Oil	+3.01	56.10	61.17

Soybeans, wheat and cotton futures all stumbled. Soybeans were pressured by a lack of favorable trade news involving the U.S. and China, as well as improving weather in South America. With soybean supplies looking comfortable, soybean bulls need a U.S.-China trade agreement and increased exports. Wheat futures fell to their lowest level in more than a year in Chicago and Kansas City amid technical selling, with comfortable supplies and concern about export demand hanging over the market. The cotton market tumbled on technical weakness, a lack of Chinese demand and a survey showing increased cotton acres likely in 2019. Rice futures also made major new lows, tumbling on Friday amid a lack of demand. The corn market held up relatively well amid the pressure from soybeans and wheat, holding steady on the week despite ongoing worries about the ethanol industry and expectations of increased U.S. acres. A firm U.S. dollar was a headwind for the commodity complex during the week. The crude oil market rallied, driven by OPEC production cuts, particularly Saudi Arabia. The direction of crude, ag commodities and financial markets could be set by the outcome of U.S.-China trade talks, which are ongoing this week.

In the livestock complex, live cattle futures rallied to start the week but could not maintain the strength, amid uncertainty over cash trade and seasonally week demand. Cash trade did emerge late on Friday mostly at $125, steady with the prior week. Lean hog futures ended a four-week losing streak, rallying off of multi-month lows on Monday and surging on Tuesday before spending the rest of the week consolidating. The cash hog market was soft in the first half of the week before firming up. Some hog marketings have been backed up by winter weather, which also isn't helping pork demand.

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