What does the Asking column in the public market mean?

what the current standing order is.

standing orders are orders you can set for your country to automatically buy a certain battery number of goods at a certain price if they hit the market while they are offline.

the "asking" column is the highest current standing order available, and if you sell at that price, and the order is still there when your goods hit the market, they will sell immediately as long as the order is big enough.

For example you can order a battery of chickens. Or you can order up an assault and battery.