(Bloomberg) – Corn and soybean futures fell in Chicago as field observations from a crop tour in the U.S. Midwest this week bolstered optimism that production will climb to a record.
Analysts assessing fields on the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour reported yield potential that was higher than last year for corn in Indiana, Nebraska and Ohio. Yield outlook for soybeans was larger in Indiana, Ohio and South Dakota, while lower in Nebraska. The tour moves into Iowa and Illinois today, the top two growing states. Crops benefited from cool temperatures in many areas this summer, and much of the Midwest is forecast to see rain this week, National Weather Service data show.
Field observations show “the record-breaking potential of this season’s crop,” Chris Gadd, an analyst at Macquarie Group Ltd., said in an e-mailed report today after the bank completed its own tour of Midwest fields last week. “Corn and soybean prices are likely to weaken into harvest if the current positive weather picture remains the same.”
Corn for December delivery fell 0.5 percent to $3.705 a bushel by 5:31 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price has dropped 12 percent this year. Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.3 percent to $10.4975 a bushel, down 19 percent in 2014.
Corn production in the U.S., the world’s top producer, may rise to a record 14.032 billion bushels this year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Aug. 12. Soybean output was pegged at 3.816 billion bushels, also an all-time high.
Corn yields in Indiana may average 185.03 bushels an acre, up from 167.36 bushels a year earlier, while yields in Nebraska may average 163.8 bushels, up from 154.9 bushels, according to results from the crop tour yesterday. “Things clearly are looking fantastic,” Wayne Gordon, an analyst at UBS AG in Singapore, said of the tour results.
Wheat for delivery in December rose 0.4 percent to $5.605 a bushel in Chicago. In Paris, milling wheat for November delivery dropped 0.3 percent to 172 euros ($228.61) a metric ton on Euronext.
