1. Land trends: We continue our tracking of latest land trends with the start of a series featuring data from a new information partner. Watch as we kick off that land feature, with more information on the background of it, this week.
2. More active precipitation systems: Colder air moving through the weekend and early in the week brings some frost and freeze warning dangers, as well as sparking general precipitation across the South and parts of the Midwest. This and previous systems are easing drought conditions in many areas, a welcome tradeoff for some planting delays. There's especially good signs of rain moving through the Southwest and into the Plains states.
3. View From The Cab introductions: One of most popular long-term series, View From the Cab, kicks off this week with introductions of our featured farmers from Idaho and Kentucky. We're in our 20th year of this series, which each week tracks the activities and thoughts of a pair of farm families as they work through the crop season.
4. Podcast conversations: Our weekly Field Posts podcast series continues with comments around the latest Cattle on Feed reports, as well as existing episodes featuring farmer entrepreneurs and our take on recent grain market reports.
5. Economic reports this Week: Monday, USDA's weekly export inspection numbers are out at 10 a.m. Then USDA NASS's weekly Crop Progress report is at 3 p.m., followed by our analysis. Tuesday sees March U.S. new home sales report at 9 a.m. On Wednesday, the U.S. durable goods orders in March is set for 7:30 a.m., followed by the Energy Department's weekly inventory report at 9:30 a.m. USDA's monthly cold storage report will be out at 2 p.m. Then Thursday starts with USDA's weekly export sales at 7:30 a.m., the same time as weekly U.S. jobless claims and as updates of first-quarter U.S. GDP and the U.S. Drought Monitor. U.S. pending homes sales in March are set for 9 a.m., followed by the Energy Department's weekly natural gas storage report at 9:30 a.m. Friday we'll watch for U.S. personal incomes and consumer spending at 7:30 a.m., the same time as the PCE inflation index for March. The University of Michigan's final consumer sentiment index for April is due out at 9 a.m.