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 May 14. Watch for coverage of these and other topics through the week on our subscription platforms as well as on DTNPF.com.

1. Kansas wheat tour: Crop tours are always highly anticipated, but for certain this year commodity markets are listening for how bad conditions are in hard red winter wheat country. We'll report from the annual Wheat Quality Council Hard Winter Wheat Tour starting Tuesday night, with mid-day updates and a full report from tour scouts each evening Tuesday and Wednesday. Final numbers will be available late-morning Thursday. For a preview of what's expected, see Senior Editor Joel Reichenberger's piece here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

2. Markets respond to bullish news: We'll continue to track the market's response to Friday's World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates (WASDE) report, which sent wheat futures skyward, and what the wheat tour adds to that. There is also continued news coming on Brazil's safrina (second-crop) corn. For more background on the wheat situation, see the WASDE review from DTN Senior Market Analyst Dana Mantini here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

3. Change in the weather patterns: The trough of low pressure that has been situated over the West, supplying energy to fire off the past week's thunderstorms, is about to shift. DTN weather forecasters expect a ridge over the West, heating up western North America. At the same time, a new trough moves into Eastern Canada, chilling that area as well as the Midwest and Northeast. We'll watch for bursts of cold that carry a slight chance for frost in far northern U.S. and Canadian Prairies.

4. Ukraine grain deal: In an ongoing issue, we'll again watch for the latest in the Russia-Ukraine grain sales agreement, set to expire May 18. As the AP has reported, the deal has been extended twice so far, and Ukraine officials and allies are seeking another extension to continue the flow of grain to Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Russia continues to balk at those extensions, pushing to tie renewed ability to move its fertilizer supplies into the market stream.

5. Economic reports fill the week: Monday sees the ongoing USDA Crop Progress and grain export inspections reports, as well as soybean crush reports. On the broader economy, April retail sales and industrial production numbers hit Tuesday, with housing starts and Energy Department inventory numbers on Wednesday. Thursday sees weekly U.S. jobless claims, existing home sales and the April U.S. index of leading indicator numbers. May's Cattle on Feed report hits Friday, with DTN analysis coming in that afternoon.

Be sure and watch for the latest news at www.dtnpf.com, and follow and like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dtnprogressivefarmer.

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