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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn	+0.0125	4.9325	6.9775
Soybeans	+0.1425	12.8025	13.9575
Wheat	+0.1150	5.7975	8.9225
Cattle	+0.07	186.75	147.93
Hogs	-4.08	69.50	80.60
Cotton	-1.08	86.06	84.79
Milk	+0.04	17.40	21.16
Crude Oil	+4.69	87.48	89.11

Grain and soybean futures were mostly higher on the week following a rally in the wake of Thursday's USDA Supply and Demand report. The report itself was at best only mildly friendly, as USDA cut corn and soybean crop estimates slightly but left the soybean carryout unchanged from last month at 220 million bushels and left the corn carryout above 2 billion bushels. Nonetheless, soybean futures surged on the report. An uptick in export demand was also supportive, with strong weekly export sales for corn, wheat and soybeans on Friday, and a rare Chinese purchase of U.S. soft red winter wheat. Harvest pressure remains a negative factor for corn and soybeans, but fieldwork was slowed late this week in the central and upper Midwest as heavy rains drenched the region. Thursday's USDA report was modestly friendly for cotton and rice. Cotton futures struggled however amid poor export demand as China is looking to other sources. Meanwhile traders are trying to gauge the impact of the violence in Israel and the prospect of a broader war engulfing the Middle East. That pushed crude oil futures higher and helped send natural gas prices soaring.

In the livestock complex, live cattle futures started the week out under pressure from concerns about increased geopolitical risk. After falling to new lows for the recent downward move on Wednesday morning, futures reversed sharply higher on support from unexpectedly strong Plains cash cattle prices. Firm cash trade suggests near-term downside risk for December live cattle is limited, unless some type of Black Swan event occurs. Wholesale beef prices were firm on the week. Lean hog futures retreated under renewed pressure from seasonal weakness in cash hog/wholesale pork prices amid ample hog supplies. Losses were limited by continued low hog weights and by front-end futures' discounts to cash.

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