US wheat futures fall after rains; soybeans, corn flat

CHICAGO — US wheat futures fell to a three-week low on Friday, led by hard red winter wheat contracts after showers in key growing parts of the US Plains provided a much needed boost to soil moisture, traders said.

Corn futures ended unchanged after spiking to their highest in nearly 10 years for the third day in a row on concerns that the rains and cool weather will further delay planting in the US Midwest.

Soybeans also closed flat after trading higher for much of the session. Soy came off its highs after crude oil turned lower.

Good-to-excellent conditions for US winter wheat have fallen to their lowest since 1989 but the rain provided relief to crops as they near key phases of development.

“The wheat is just dancing with the weather,” said Greg Grow, director of agribusiness at Archer Financial Services. “There has been some moisture out West that is timely enough to help.”

The benchmark Chicago Board of Trade July soft red winter wheat contract settled down 30 cents at $10.55-3/4 a bushel. K.C. July hard red winter wheat was off 35 cents at $11.06-1/4 a bushel and hit its lowest. Both contracts hit their lowest since April 8.

CBOT July corn was unchanged at $8.13-1/2 a bushel after peaking at $8.24-1/2 a bushel. The session peak was the highest for the most-active contract since August 2012.

“The weather forecasts are wetter for the US planting areas than they were yesterday, with temperatures still below normal,” Charlie Sernatinger, global head of grain futures at ED&F Man Capital, said in a note to clients.

Dry weather in central Brazil was also raising concerns about the country’s main corn crop, which like the later US harvest is seen as critical to help offset disruption to Ukrainian exports.

CBOT July soybeans were flat at $16.84-3/4 a bushel. —