In the News

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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	+0.2275	4.2700	3.9400
Soybeans	+0.4800	8.7755	10.1850
Wheat	+0.1350	5.0300	5.2325
Cattle	-4.88	103.08	103.95
Hogs	-2.03	85.93	78.05
Cotton	-0.31	68.08	93.15
Milk	-0.11	16.20	15.57
Crude Oil	-5.10	53.53	62.90

Grain and soybean futures rocketed higher as the planting and crop outlook for the Midwest turned increasingly dire. Corn rallied to multi-month and contract highs, and posted a large bullish reversal on the monthly chart for May. Soybeans also soared. Both markets retreated on Friday, amid renewed concern about trade and exports after President Trump warned he would slap a new tariff on Mexican goods unless Mexico's government took steps to limit illegal immigration. The main story of the week, however, was the weather. While most of the Corn Belt was too wet, the western Corn Belt in particular was hit with extreme rains, which further delays planting and is causing widespread transportation disruptions. The Mississippi, the Illinois and the Arkansas rivers all experienced moderate to major flooding. The trade is now factoring in the loss of millions of acres of corn, along with increasing losses to soybean acres. Even with a significant reduction in acres, U.S. soybean supplies should remain comfortable. That and ongoing tensions with China over trade could continue to limit or at least slow the market's rally. Cotton futures were down slightly, as concern about drought in the Southeast was offset by the pessimism over U.S.-China trade and still-strong prospects for the West Texas crop.

In the livestock complex, live cattle futures collapsed to new long-term lows late in the week, along with feeder cattle futures. Feeders were pressured by rallying corn prices. Technical selling and concern about new U.S. tariffs on Mexican goods weighed on the market. Plains cash cattle markets were firm however, even amid the selloff in futures. Lean hog futures fell to 2 1/2 -month lows in summer months amid concerns about demand with weaker wholesale pork and cash hog values. The U.S.-China trade dispute is a negative market factor, although China did import pork in the latest weekly sales report.

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