(Bloomberg) – Soybeans fell in Chicago on speculation that U.S. supplies will be ample after farmers expanded planting this season and as most crops are now developing in good condition.
The U.S. soybean crop was rated 73 percent in good or excellent shape as of June 15, the best for the date since at least 1987, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said. The agency is set to update its weekly crop condition report on June 23 and will release a new forecast on U.S. planted area on June 30. Farmers told the government in March that they intended to plant a record 81.5 million acres of soybeans.
“The weather still is good” and that will help yields, Matt Ammermann, a risk management consultant at INTL FCStone, said by telephone today from London. The USDA’s acreage report “will be slightly supportive on corn and bearish on beans, because farmers probably planted a little more beans than what we thought.”
Soybeans for delivery in November fell 0.5 percent to $12.21 a bushel by 7:45 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The oilseed is little changed this week after prices rose 1.2 percent yesterday on concern wet weather in northern parts of the U.S. would reduce yields.
Corn for December delivery dropped 0.5 percent to $4.4525 a bushel, after climbing 1.8 percent yesterday, the biggest gain since June 6.
U.S. soybean area may be near 83 million acres, according to Dale Durchholz, a senior market analyst at AgriVisor LLC in Bloomington, Illinois. Farmers planned to reduce corn planting this season by 3.9 percent to 91.7 million acres, the USDA said in March. The USDA is also scheduled to release its quarterly estimate on U.S. grain stockpiles on June 30.
Wheat for September delivery fell 0.5 percent to $5.9975 a bushel in Chicago, trimming a weekly gain. The grain rose 2 percent in the previous two days on concern that rain in the U.S. Great Plains will erode the quality of crops as the harvest begins. In Paris, milling wheat for November delivery added 0.3 percent to 188.75 euros ($256.28) a metric ton on Euronext.
