In the News

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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.1125	4.1575	3.7625
Soybeans	-0.2150	8.5625	9.7425
Wheat	+0.0150	5.0450	5.2675
Cattle	+0.22	103.30	104.15
Hogs	-2.58	83.35	79.45
Cotton	-2.49	65.59	93.72
Milk	+0.01	16.64	16.04
Crude Oil	+0.58	54.08	62.86

Corn and soybean futures were lower on the week as a slowly improving weather picture helped to prompt profit-taking after strong recent gains. While the weather in the Midwest is still far from ideal, a mixed pattern of rain and sun is expected to help crops that were in the ground in a timely fashion. The problem is that the crop is historically late. In addition to roughly 15% of the corn crop and more than a third of the soybean crop yet to be planted, growers are concerned about crop development after a late start. Temperatures are expected to remain below-average for much of the Midwest throughout the next two weeks, which will limit drying and crop development. Estimates on how many corn acres will be lost this year vary widely, but the total could be substantial. On the demand side, the lack of any movement in U.S.-China trade negotiations, as well as the threat of new tariffs between the U.S. and Mexico, weighed on the market throughout the week. By the weekend, it appeared that tariff threats between the U.S. and Mexico had died down.

In the livestock complex, lean hog futures collapsed on Monday, and slowly regained ground the next three days, only to collapse again on Friday. The market was pressured by soft cash hog prices and President Trump's tariff threat against Mexico. Firm wholesale pork values and strong pork exports to China, which reaffirmed optimism about demand due to China's African swine fever crisis, helped to underpin the market. Ultimately, supplies are simply overwhelming demand right now in the pork complex. Live cattle futures spent much of the week trying to claw back from losses sustained late in the prior week. However the market fell back on Friday, posting a bearish outside day lower in some contracts.

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