SOYBEAN futures at the Chicago Board of Trade moved higher on Friday, underpinned by South American production concerns and planting delays in the United States.
Forecasts call for more rain across much of the U.S. soybean growing regions over the next week, which should slow seeding operations especially in the eastern Corn Belt.
Meanwhile, recent flooding in Brazil has cut into production prospects there, with up to a million tonnes of soybeans lost from the adverse weather.
Argentina’s soybean crop was pegged at 24 per cent good to excellent by the Buenos Aires Grain Exchange, down three points from the previous week with the harvest nearing two thirds completion.
CORN was lower, seeing a continuation of the chart-based selling that’s weighed on prices for most of the week.
While U.S. corn seeding may also face some delays next week, there should be a window of opportunity for farmers to make progress over the weekend. Losses in wheat also spilled over to weigh on prices.
WHEAT was pressured by improving U.S. crop prospects. A Kansas crop tour placed average winter wheat yields in the state at 46.5 bushels per acre, which was the highest since 2021 and well above last year’s drought-stricken crop.
Ideas that wheat was looking technically overbought, after frost damage to Russia’s crop sparked a rally to 10-month highs earlier in the week, contributed to the declines.