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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	+0.1875	5.5775	3.4550
Soybeans	+0.0300	14.1625	8.4325
Wheat	-0.1150	6.2700	5.3500
Cattle	-1.75	118.68	88.93
Hogs	+1.60	100.60	69.13
Cotton	-2.88	84.68	54.93
Milk	+0.72	16.99	16.01
Crude Oil	-4.12	61.52	25.91

It was a volatile week for the grains complex, with nearby months getting support from a new Chinese corn-buying spree while new-crop contracts were pressured by a favorable Midwest weather outlook and easing South American crop concerns. The corn market was at first slow to respond to a series of large corn purchases, but it had rallied by the end of the week, as Chinese purchases over four straight days accumulated to nearly 150 million bushels. December corn was lower however. Similar spread action was seen in soybeans. The National Weather Service's outlook for spring and April in particular shows above-average temperatures across the Midwest and South. This should aid early planting, and keep the flood risk much-reduced from the past couple of years. The downside is that even with a rainy March, much of the western Corn Belt will remain mired in drought. Wheat futures stumbled to multi-month lows, pressured in part by the recent rains, which are likely to have a dramatic impact on hard red winter wheat crop potential. Cotton futures fell sharply, pressured by bearish outside markets.

A strong dollar and plummeting crude oil, which fell by more than $3 on Thursday, weighed on the commodity complex overall. In the livestock complex, summer-month live cattle contracts ended the week in ugly fashion, retreating sharply after making new contract highs, posting bearish daily reversals on Thursday and then seeing follow-through on Friday. Plains cash cattle trade was steady for another week, mostly at $114 in Nebraska, Kansas and Texas, amid moderate volume. Supplies are ample and packer margins remain strong. Friday's Cattle on Feed report from USDA came in largely as expected, showing reduced placements from a year ago and indicating tighter cattle supplies for later in the year. Lean hogs were mixed, with April and June making contract highs before retreating.

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