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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	+0.4075	6.7325	3.2000
Soybeans	+0.1825	15.3425	8.5525
Wheat	+0.2250	7.3475	5.2425
Cattle	+0.85	116.58	85.95
Hogs	+4.00	109.73	58.95
Cotton	-0.72	88.08	57.33
Milk	+0.79	19.83	12.44
Crude Oil	+1.39	63.53	18.84

It was a memorable week for the grain and soybean complex, as corn, soybeans and wheat all soared to contract highs and 8-year-highs on a front-month basis. The markets surged into new highs at mid-week and then retreated sharply, before rallying again strongly on Friday. Speculative buying is helping to drive the market along with tight near-term supplies, driven in part by soybean oil and robust demand from soybean crushers, along with deteriorating corn crop prospects for Brazil. The market strength may have also prompted some panic-buying by end-users. Here in the U.S., planting progress has been a little slow in spots, but overall the forecast for the Midwest is mostly favorable. Archer Daniels Midland's CEO told investors this week that he expected corn and soybean acres combined to be about 5 million more than USDA's March Prospective Plantings forecast. The biggest concern for U.S. producers remains drought, particularly in the northwest Corn Belt. This is also a threat to spring wheat crop prospects. Further south, dryness in the far western Plains is supportive for hard red winter wheat prices, and extreme dryness in parts of West Texas is supporting cotton.

Outside financial markets, bullishness on the economy and growing talk of inflation have also helped drive buying in ag commodities. Crude oil made a six-week high as U.S. driving demand inches closer to pre-pandemic levels. Live cattle were higher despite Plains cash trade that was down $2 to $3 from the prior week. Enormous packer margins and expectations of a strong summer grilling season are helping underpin the complex. Feeder cattle futures were under pressure, however, from the strength in corn. Lean hog futures rallied amid strong cash markets and optimism about pork demand. Poor pork packer margins remain a negative factor, however.

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