Chicago | Reuters—Chicago wheat futures climbed on Tuesday after the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that the U.S. winter wheat crop was in worse condition than the trade had expected, according to analysts.
Corn rebounded from two days of declines as crude oil stabilized following a steep drop, while soybeans fell under pressure from abundant supplies and beneficial weather in South America.
The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 ended up 11-3/4 cents at $5.70-1/2 per bushel. Soybeans Sv1 settled down 8-3/4 cents at $9.65-1/4 a bushel, while corn Cv1 gained 3 cents to finish at $4.13-3/4 a bushel.
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The U.S. winter wheat crop is in much worse shape than market participants thought, according to USDA data released on Monday after trading ended.
The USDA rated 38 per cent of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, below analyst estimates in a Reuters poll of 47 per cent and the second-lowest for this time of year in USDA records dating to 1986.
“The expansion of drought in the Southern Plains has certainly had an impact on the early development of the crop,” said Mark Soderberg, senior agricultural market analyst with ADM Investor Services.
Corn also edged higher in a rebound from two sessions of declines on spillover support from wheat and as crude oil futures stabilized. Corn sometimes follows trends in crude oil given its role as the main U.S. feedstock for ethanol fuel.
Soybeans turned lower, however, as improved weather conditions in Brazil for planting next year’s crop limited any upside in prices, Soderberg said.
Brazil’s soybean planting for the 2024/25 season had reached 36 per cent of the total expected area as of Oct. 24, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said on Monday, up 18 percentage points from the previous week as weather conditions improved.
U.S. farmers have been harvesting the record-large 2024 soybean crop at the fastest pace in over a decade, USDA data on Monday showed.
—Additional reporting by Naveen Thukral and Sybille de La Hamaide
