It's been another beautiful week in the Midwest, USA. We had some rain pass through northern Illinois on Monday morning, but temperatures remained warm. This week, temperatures are slated to be in the 70s and 80s Fahrenheit (20s to 30 Celsius).

To take a look at your local forecast or the forecast anywhere in the world - that's right, I said anywhere in the world, just click on the MORE button beside weather on the home page and you'll be able to see the 7-day forecast for anywhere with a zip or postal code. If you are a weather geek like me, you'll love this feature of TheCropSite.

There were so many cool things that I learned at Commodity Classic that it's hard to pick one mini topic to share, but here's one of my favorites…

I attended the Booming Exports - Opening Global Doors: Vietnam education learning session and walked away with a whole new appreciation Vietnam's amazing growth. Here are a few statistics shared by Mark Jagels, with the US Meat Export Federation:

• Vietnam has 90 million people and are growing at a rate of 1 million/year
• 54 per cent of the Vietnamese population is under age 25
• Vietnam's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was up 5.89 per cent in 2011
• It's one of the fastest-growing food service markets in the world
• Mass grocery retail sales were up 15.1 per cent in 2011
• Beef consumption has risen 108 per cent since 2005, from 6.9 lbs. to 14.3 lbs.
• Pork consumption has risen 17.3 per cent since 2005, from 41.3 lbs to 48.4 lbs.

Despite these statistics, Vietnam has experienced some issues. There has been an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in Vietnam since November 2010, with more than 150,000 cattle infected in 39 provinces. And food safety is a big issue - there are an estimated 3 million cases of food poisoning every year.

Overall, Vietnam's growth is exploding, making it an opportunity market for the world. Like China, there's no doubt its growing, young middle class wants more protein. For the US, it's the fastest growth export market for feedstuffs.

Have a great week!