Top 5 Things to Watch

By DTN Staff

OMAHA (DTN) -- Here are the Top 5 things the DTN Newsroom is tracking for the week of Oct. 11. Watch for coverage of these and other topics throughout the week on our subscription platforms as well as on www.DTNPF.com.

Note that all report release times are Central Daylight Savings Time unless otherwise noted.

1. Harvest Watch: Farmers in many areas of the country will be rushing to bring in corn, soybeans and other fall crops in between rains. Markets will focus on the speed and quality of that harvest as they adjust to the higher-than-expected yield forecasts from the October WASDE report.

2. Harvest Quality Issues: Moldy corn, sprouting soybeans, chia pet hay bales--we're watching a list of less-than-great quality issues grow due to wet weather, high humidity and delayed harvests. We'll likely be tracking those issues into winter.

3. Focus on Costs: Latest farmer surveys and general conversations show farmers are continuing to focus on ways to cut costs on fuel, fertilizers and other inputs due to disruptions from the wars in Iran, the Black Sea, and general inflation. By most accounts, state and federal moves to allow the highway use of off-road, red dye diesel are having little influence due to access, supplies and issues around road taxes eventually needing to be paid.

4. Weather all about the tropics--warm and dry this week. Harvest will be brief, though, with more tropical storms over the next week. The remnants of Isaias and Rachel will be influencing conditions. A trough in the West is sending the remnants of Hurricane Rachel across the northern tier of the U.S. early this week, but will slowly move eastward for the rest of the week, getting some help from another trough moving through Canada late in the week. A large ridge will develop behind those troughs and push eastward this weekend. In the Central Plains, a system will move into the region on Wednesday, pulling in some tropical moisture ahead of it, which may result in some areas of heavy rain Tuesday through Thursday. This could further disrupt harvest in areas that have already dealt with disruptions and damage. In the Midwest, remnants of Rachel will move across the north Monday and Tuesday, and another system will move through Wednesday through Friday with more widespread showers and thunderstorms. Some colder air will follow behind the system for the weekend, but will pop right back up going into early next week.

5. Reports Due This Week: Monday is Columbus Day in the U.S., and there will be no government reports. Canada will celebrate Thanksgiving. Tuesday at 9 a.m., Existing Home Sales. At 10 a.m., Grain Inspections. At 1 p.m., Monthly Treasury balance for September; then at 2 p.m., Turkey Hatchery data. At 3 p.m., the weekly Crop Progress report with DTN analysis. Wednesday at 7:30 a.m., Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Sep and Core CPI. At 1 p.m., the Federal Reserve Beige Book is released. At 2 p.m., Broiler Hatchery numbers. Thursday at 7:30 a.m., Empire State Manufacturing Survey for October, Retail Sales data for September, Weekly Jobless Claims and Producer Price Index (PPI). At 9 a.m., Manufacturing and Trade Inventories for August. At 10:30 a.m., Weekly Economic Index followed at 11 a.m. by the EIA weekly petroleum status, which includes ethanol data (delayed). At 2 p.m., Slaughter Weekly. Friday at 7:30 a.m., Grain Export Sales (delayed). At 8:15 a.m., Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization. At 2:30 p.m the CFTC's Commitment of Traders report.

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