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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.0350	6.8075	5.6275
Soybeans	-0.0775	13.8775	12.3375
Wheat	-0.2150	8.2925	7.7250
Cattle	+0.57	153.00	130.33
Hogs	-3.02	86.10	75.20
Cotton	-7.02	72.11	113.73
Milk	-0.89	20.25	18.55
Crude Oil	+3.24	88.29	82.81

Grain and oilseed futures were mostly down on the week, pressured by weak demand and concerns about the economy, along with generally favorable harvest conditions. Wheat was under the most pressure, in part due to rains in parts of the southern Plains that gave a boost to soil moisture in some hard red winter wheat areas. Corn was down slightly but remained in a tight, sideways trading range. The outlook for both markets was altered over the weekend by Russia's withdrawal from the deal allowing grain exports out of the Black Seat region, though as of Monday morning it appeared that grain was still moving out of the region. Low water levels in the Mississippi River remain a problem for corn, soybeans and rice, with barge traffic significantly slowed and export potential being eroded. Speculation that China was shifting some soybean purchases away from the U.S. and to Brazil added to the demand fears. Cotton futures continued to tumble, making new 18-month lows amid technical selling and worries about Chinese demand, both short-term and long-term.

In the livestock complex, live cattle futures continued their strong rally early in the week amid strong wholesale beef prices, but set back a bit over the rest of the week after becoming technically overbought. Continued strength in cash cattle prices limited futures losses. The fundamental outlook for cattle prices looks strong amid tightening market-ready cattle supplies and indications herd liquidation continues. However, the demand side remains uncertain. Lean hogs remained highly volatile. The market spent the first three days of the week consolidating as traders watched developments in the cash market and on the economic front. Futures then sold off hard on Thursday under pressure from weaker cash hog and wholesale pork prices and disappointing weekly pork export sales, before rebounding a bit on Friday.

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