(Bloomberg) – Corn and soybeans fell in Chicago after a government report showed U.S. crops are still in mostly good condition even as parts of the country experience excess rainfall. Wheat fell to a four-month low.
Seventy-four percent of corn crops in the main U.S. growing areas were in good or excellent condition as of June 22, the best shape since 1999, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Soybeans were rated 72 percent in top condition, the best on record for the date since 1986. Flooding may persist this week in northern parts of the Midwest including Iowa and Minnesota as some areas are expected to see more than 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain this month, AccuWeather Inc. said.
“The status of the corn and soybean crops is uncommonly good,” economist Dennis Gartman wrote today in his daily Gartman Letter. “We do not doubt that some flooding damage has been done to the crops. However, the flooded-out acreage is really quite small and on balance, always, rain makes grain.”
Corn for December delivery fell 0.7 percent to $4.395 a bushel at 5:45 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Prices tumbled 2.1 percent yesterday, the biggest drop since May 15. Soybeans for delivery in November retreated 0.9 percent to $12.2225 a bushel, heading for the first decline in a week.
Corn decreased 20 percent in the past year as the USDA predicts U.S. production may be a record 13.935 billion bushels in the season starting Sept. 1. Farmers probably planted 91.71 million acres, similar to a government estimate in March, according to a Bloomberg News survey before the USDA releases its new acreage estimate on June 30. Soybean planting was pegged at 82.21 million acres, up from the March forecast of 81.49 million, analysts said.
Wheat for September delivery declined 0.8 percent to $5.8425 a bushel, after earlier touching $5.835, the lowest for a most-active contract since Feb. 11. The U.S. harvest is accelerating, with 33 percent of winter crops collected as of June 22, compared with 16 percent a week earlier, the USDA said.
In Paris, milling wheat for November delivery fell 0.8 percent to 187 euros ($254.74) a metric ton on Euronext.
