Top 5 Things to Watch

Cattle Numbers, Storm Front Top the Watch List

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OMAHA (DTN) -- Here are the Top 5 things the DTN Newsroom is tracking for the week of April 14. Watch for coverage of these and other topics through the week on our subscription platforms as well as on www.DTNPF.com. Note that report release times are Central Daylight Time (CDT) unless otherwise noted.

1. Crop Progress update: Monday's USDA NASS' weekly national Crop Progress report, due out at 3 p.m., will be of interest as there was a bit more field activity this past week where rains didn't keep tractors parked. We'll compare the progress with previous years' early April activity.

2. Cattle on Feed Friday: Latest cattle numbers will hit midday Friday, and we'll have both expectations in a preview piece early in the week as well as the report and professional analysis of it later Friday. See also "Producers, Others Raise Concerns Over NASS Dropping Midyear Cattle Report," at https://www.dtnpf.com/….

3. More precipitation in forecast: As much of the country headed into a warmer, but windy, weekend, DTN meteorologists are watching a trough off the West Coast that will move eastward during the weekend and into the middle of the country early the week of April 14th. That storm is likely to produce widespread precipitation, strong winds, severe storms, and areas of snow as it slowly moves across the country throughout the week. To find more weather conditions and your local forecast from DTN, head over to https://www.dtnpf.com/….

4. Wheat conditions improve: We'll track additional reports from wheat country as that crop begins to kick off spring growth. Our first look at how things are shaping up are here: https://www.dtnpf.com/….

5. Economic reports this week: Monday kicks off with the 7:30 a.m. release of U.S. Retail Sales, then at 9 a.m. we'll see Business Inventories and Home Builder Confidence Index. At 10 a.m., weekly Grain Inspections report is due, followed by 11 a.m. release of the Oil Crops Outlook. At 2 p.m. is the Feed and Wheat Crop outlooks, then at 3 p.m. is the USDA NASS' Crop Progress report, followed by our full analysis of the reports. Tuesday the general economic condition reports include the 7:30 a.m. release of U.S. Housing Starts and Building Permits. At 8:15 a.m. is the Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization numbers. â?¯Wednesday we'll see the 10 a.m. release of Weekly Petroleum Status report from EIA, including ethanol data.â?¯ At 2 p.m. the Broiler Hatchery report is released. Thursday starts with 7:30 a.m. release of Grain Export Sales and Initial Jobless Claims.â?¯ At 9 a.m., Existing Home Sales and U.S. Leading Economic Indicators is out, with the Weekly Economic Index hitting at 10:30 a.m. On Friday, at 2 p.m., the Cattle on Feed report is released, followed by DTN analysis of the report. The CFTC Commitment of Traders report surfaces at 2:30 PM.

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