In the News

The next issue of Agri Marketing will include salutes to NAMA award winners Eric Boeck, Syngenta Seeds; Beth Burgy, broadhead and Tim Price, Southern Cotton Ginners Assn. To schedule your congratulatory ad contact Audrey Evans: AudreyE@AgriMarketing.com.

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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	-0.3025	5.8500	8.1350
Soybeans	-0.2975	14.1925	16.8475
Wheat	-0.3925	6.3375	10.8575
Cattle	+0.95	165.48	133.90
Hogs	+5.63	91.70	110.97
Cotton	+0.65	80.80	147.68
Milk	-0.81	17.20	24.62
Crude Oil	-1.16	76.71	105.36

Grain and oilseed futures plummeted, with widespread losses on favorable U.S. weather and weak export demand. Corn fell to a nine-month low in the July contract, with two China cancellations of U.S. corn purchases weighing. Soybeans were also pressured by weak exports. Large Brazilian supplies are undercutting the U.S.. Meanwhile conditions across the Corn Belt and the forecast for the first half of May continues to look mostly dry, and planting is off to a fast start for both corn and soybeans. However, temperatures are chilly, which is slowing early crop development and limiting farmers' enthusiasm to plant right now. Wheat futures fell to their lowest level in almost two years in the Chicago July contract. In addition to weak demand and large Russian supplies, wheat prices were pressured by healthy rains that fell across some drought-plagued areas of the southern Plains. Cotton futures were firm, bolstered by solid export demand and by concerns about this year's U.S. crop, as many Mid-South growers have switched to corn and West Texas remains extremely dry.

In the livestock complex, lean hog futures rallied to their highest levels since early April amid growing signs of seasonal strength developing in the cash hog and wholesale pork markets. Futures gains were limited by continued ample hog supplies, front-end futures' premiums to cash and concerns the U.S. economy is headed into recession. The live cattle futures market had a very short-lived negative reaction to the larger-than-expected April 1 feedlot inventory and March feedlot placements reported by USDA, with traders quickly shifting their focus back to cash market developments. Plains cash trade prices ended up lower, which was not surprising given how the recent surge had cut into packer margins. Futures spent the week chopping inside of the prior week's range and finished mixed on the week.

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