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WEEKLY COMMODITY HIGHLIGHTS

Nearby Futures	Weekly Change	Friday's Close	Year Ago
Corn (Dec)	+0.0825	4.3150	4.4100
Soybeans (Nov)	+0.5800	10.9975	9.8250
Wheat (Dec)	+0.2150	5.3400	5.6800
Cattle (Dec)	-4.0750	229.675	185.925
Hogs (Dec)	-0.6025	81.275	84.075
Cotton (Dec)	+1.34	65.54	72.53
Milk (Nov)	-0.46	17.39	20.25
Crude Oil (Dec)	-0.52	60.98	69.49

Grain and oilseed futures rallied, with news of a China trade deal propelling soybeans in particular late in the week. The bean market rallied to multi-month highs following the U.S. announcement of the deal, which includes China soybean purchases of 12 MMT this year and 25 MMT in each of the following three years. While this is not a departure from historic norms prior to the trade war, these totals and the deal overall are a big relief for growers who had wondered if China was going to buy any soybeans at all this year. However, there is still significant uncertainty about the deal, including enforcement, not to mention that China has not actually confirmed the soybean agreement laid out by the U.S. Soybeans also had support during the week from a soaring soymeal market. Corn was lifted higher somewhat reluctantly by the beans. The U.S. Midwest harvest is nearing the finish line with few hiccups, although yields for corn and soybeans are generally seen as a little disappointing. The trade deal with China does not include any specifics on purchases of corn, wheat or cotton, but already there are reports that China is looking to make its first purchase of U.S. wheat in a year.

In the livestock complex, live cattle and feeder cattle continued to tumble to start the week, extending a selloff sparked the prior week by Trump Administration efforts to bring down beef prices and by speculation that the U.S. border would open up again to feeder cattle from Mexico. Futures stabilized on Tuesday though, after falling to a steep discount to cash markets. A statement from Mexico's agriculture secretary that no date had yet been set for reopening the border eased concerns about an increase in cattle supplies. Lean hog futures continued their recent downward march under further pressure from seasonal weakness in cash hog prices and technically-driven speculative long liquidation.

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