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. 18. 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. Post-WASDE Questions: Farmers and analysts continue to question the higher-than-expected corn yield and production numbers from the Oct. 9 WASDE report. USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service is also discussing plans to update its crop forecasting protocols.

2. Markets Slip During Harvest: While fundamentals remain relatively neutral to bullish, grain markets continued to slip last week, typical for a fall harvest period. With global wheat markets influenced by the lack of grain moving out of the war-torn Black Sea region, there eventually could be increased demand for U.S. wheat, and potentially other coarse grains to fill in feed demand.

3. Warm Up After the Weekend: The coolness over the weekend will be short-lived as temperatures pop back up through this week. The system driving this will bring isolated showers into the Midwest through Tuesday or Wednesday, when temperatures warm back up to normal or above normal. From the Delta and Southeast to West Texas, things will be mostly drier, with temperatures climbing back above normal mid-week.

4. South American Weather: Heavy rain continues to shift from southern Brazil into central Brazil, allowing southern areas a chance to dry out. That would be favorable for both areas, as it has been too wet in the south and too dry in the north as planting time approaches. Models are suggesting that another system will move through southern Brazil later next week, which could bring back some heavy rain again, but would likely move into central Brazil as well, which would be more favorable. In Argentina, areas of light showers are expected to continue through the week. This is helping increase soil moisture, but colder air has kept soil temperatures from rising very much this spring. Southern areas may be slow to plant corn because of the cold, but increasing soil moisture should be overall favorable. For more on Brazil's field conditions going into planting, see Ag Weather Forum here: https://www.dtnpf.com/…

5. Reports Due This Week: Monday at 9 a.m., the NAHB Housing Market Index. At 10 a.m., Grain Inspections. At 3 p.m., Crop Progress with DTN analysis to follow. Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., Housing Starts for September. At 9 a.m., Pending Home Sales Index for September. At 2 p.m., Chicken and Eggs report. Wednesday at 9:30 a.m., EIA's weekly petroleum report including ethanol production and stocks. At 2 p.m., Broiler Hatchery. Thursday at 7:30 a.m., Grain Export Sales and Weekly Jobless Claims. At 9 a.m., Leading Indicators. At 10 a.m., KC Fed Survey. At 11 a.m., Cotton Ginnings. At 2 p.m., Livestock Slaughter and Slaughter Weekly. Friday at 8:45 a.m., U.S. Flash Manufacturing and Services PMI reports. At 2 p.m., Cattle-On-Feed and Poultry Slaughter, and at 2:30 p.m., CFTC's Commitment of Traders report.

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