By DTN Staff

OMAHA (DTN) -- Here are the Top 5 things the DTN Newsroom is tracking for the week of March 16. Watch for coverage of these and other topics through 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. Ag Day celebration: Tuesday is National Agriculture Day, celebrating farm families and the contribution farming makes to the United States and to the world. This year's theme is "Agriculture: Together We Grow." For more information on festivities in Washington, D.C. and across the country, go here: https://www.agday.org.

2. Calling all innovative farmers: We're once again taking nominations for Progressive Farmer magazine's America's Best Young Farmers and Ranchers. Each year we celebrate a collection of the entrepreneurs, innovators and community supporters that represent the best of American agriculture. To nominate someone, or yourself, go here: https://dtn.link/…. To see a video about this year's winners, how they were selected, what happens when they are named our ABYFR best for the year, check out https://www.dtnpf.com/…. To see videos of this year's winners on their farms, go to https://www.dtnpf.com/… and see the following: "Worth the Retail Price," "Leaving the Comfort Zone," "Risk is Not Taking Risk," "Failure Isn't Fatal," and "New Love for the Farm."

3. Government update: At this writing, it's unclear whether the Republican budget will get enough support from Democrats to stop a full shutdown. With all the penknife rattling, it's unclear what the coming weeks will look like in terms of government payments promised farmers. Court judgements also continue to change or postpone the DOGE decisions. We'll be tracking all that and potentially more.

4. Spring storm assessment: In addition to all the political winds, a big swath of the country was under damaging winds and tornado warnings going into the weekend. (See the latest story at https://www.dtnpf.com/…) We're tracking the aftermath in farm country. Later in week, there are chances of snow in the northern Midwest, rainfall to the central and south. The forecast for March continues to be on the warm side, with record highs in the north especially.

5. Economic reports for the week: Monday at 7:30 a.m. we'll see U.S. Retail Sales numbers. At 9 a.m. comes Business Inventories and Homebuilders Confidence Index, followed by weekly Grain Inspections at 10 a.m. At 2 p.m., Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Outlooks data is out. Tuesday reports start with 7:30 a.m. release of Housing Starts, Building Permits and Import Price Index. At 8:15 a.m., Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization data hits. Wednesday the EIA Weekly Petroleum Status report is out at 9:30 a.m., which includes ethanol stocks and production. At 1 p.m., we'll get the Fed's latest Interest Rate decision. At 2 p.m., Broiler Hatchery numbers are out. Thursday at 7:30 a.m. we'll have Initial Jobless Claims, as well as Grain Export Sales numbers. At 9 a.m. the latest Existing Home Sales and U.S. Leading Economic indicators are out, followed by the Weekly Economic Index at 10:30 a.m. At 2 p.m., Livestock Slaughter and Slaughter Weekly numbers are out. Friday is the next Cattle On Feed report, due to hit at 2 p.m., followed by our analysis on the report. At 2:30 p.m. the latest CFTC Commitment of Traders report is due.

You can listen to DTN Field Posts podcasts -- such as the look ahead to spring planting weather with DTN Ag Meteorologist John Baranick -- at https://www.dtnpf.com/…, https://www.buzzsprout.com/… and they're also available on podcast hosting sites such as Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

Watch for the latest news at www.dtnpf.com, and follow and like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/dtnprogressivefarmer. You can find our news on Instagram as well. Give us a follow @dtn.agnews

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