Chicago | Reuters—U.S. corn futures rose on Wednesday on technical buying and short covering that lifted prices from Tuesday’s one-month lows as traders assessed Midwestern weather conditions before the spring planting season.
Soybeans hit one-month lows on Wednesday on sluggish demand and rising supplies from a bumper South American crop before rebounding on technical buying and short covering.
Wheat gained on chart-based buying following two days of losses triggered by strong winter crop conditions.
Traders are monitoring Midwestern weather ahead of corn planting that is due to ramp up over the coming weeks. Rain and snow in the central corn belt at midweek was expected to boost soil moisture reserves while temperatures were forecast to rise later in the month.
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As the harvest in southern Alberta presses on, a broker said that is one of the factors pulling feed prices lower in the region. Darcy Haley, vice-president of Ag Value Brokers in Lethbridge, added that lower cattle numbers in feedlots, plentiful amounts of grass for cattle to graze and a lacklustre export market also weighed on feed prices.
There is some doubt about a larger-than-expected drop in corn acreage in a government report last Thursday, said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist at the Zaner Group.
“If we have good planting conditions, we will likely plant more than the report suggests,” he said.
Chicago Board of Trade May corn CK24 was up 5-1/4 cents higher at $4.31-3/4.
May soybeans SK24 moved 8-1/4 cents higher to $11.82-1/4 a bushel.
CBOT May wheat WK24 jumped 10-3/4 cents higher to $5.56 per bushel.
A fall in the dollar index from a 4-1/2-month high lent some support to U.S. grains, which have faced stiff export competition from cheaper South American and Black Sea supplies.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday rated the U.S. winter wheat crop at its highest early spring level in five years and crop-boosting rains are forecast for the southern U.S. Plains wheat belt.
In Russia, hefty wheat exports, which consultancy SovEcon estimates set a March record, are weighing on the market and a large stockpile was limiting concern about recent dry weather for crops there.
—Additional reporting for Reuters by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra
