Chicago | Reuters—Chicago Board of Trade wheat dipped on Monday after a jump earlier in the day, as traders assessed conditions of the U.S. crops.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, in a report issued after trading ended, said 56 per cent of winter wheat was in good-to-excellent condition, compared to 27 per cent a year ago and the best for this time of year since 2020. The rating was unchanged from a week ago, as analysts had expected.
“The good-to-excellent ratings are some of the highest we’ve had in years,” said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities. “That’s a bit of an anchor.”
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The news comes despite significant winds across southern U.S. Plains wheat areas and market fears about the risk of dryness, after drought reduced last year’s harvest.
“We continue to miss out on some rains in key growing areas,” said Mark Soderberg of ADM Investor Services.
CBOT May wheat futures Wv1 slipped 1-1/2 cents to end at $5.65-3/4. Most-active corn Cv1 rose 1-1/4 cents to $4.35- 1/2 a bushel, while soybeans Sv1 dropped 3-1/2 cents to finish at $11.81-1/2 a bushel.
Funds were net sellers of CBOT wheat and soybeans, traders said.
For corn, the start of U.S. plantings looks normal, Roose said, with USDA reporting three per cent of the crop was planted as of Sunday, unchanged from last year and compared to four per cent expected by analysts in Reuters poll.
On Thursday, the USDA is slated to update global supply and demand data in a monthly report.
Roose noted a disconnect between the USDA and Brazilian crop agency Conab’s Brazilian harvest estimates and said traders would be looking to Thursday’s report to see if the USDA’s higher estimates persist.
Analysts said the corn crop in Brazil looked strong, while consultancy AgRural said Brazil’s soybean harvest had reached 78 per cent of the planted area as of last Thursday.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore
