Wheat Prices Jump 1 Percent After Dry Weather Damages Spring Crop
Category: Grains
(Reuters) – U.S. wheat rose 1 percent on Thursday to rebound from a near one-month low touched in the previous session, with a widely watched crop tour showing extensive damage to yields from recent hot, dry weather.
Corn prices edged higher, extending gains into a second session, while soybeans were little changed.
The most active wheat futures on the Chicago Board of Trade had climbed 1.2 percent to $4.83-1/2 a bushel by 0248 GMT. They closed up 0.8 percent on Wednesday after touching a near one-month low of $4.73 a bushel.
“The premium due to the threat to spring wheat had come off a little in the last few weeks as people realised major downgrades would alter the supply and demand fundamentals, though the crop tour has propelled the issue back into focus,” said Phin Ziebell, agribusiness economist, National Australia Bank.
Spring wheat yield prospects in central and northwest North Dakota are down significantly from a year ago following hot and dry conditions during the growing season, scouts on the annual crop tour said on Wednesday.
The Wheat Quality Council tour calculated an average yield for 188 hard red spring wheat fields scouted in the region at 35.8 bushels per acre (bpa), on the second day of a three-day tour. The figure compares with the 2016 Day Two yield of 46.9 bpa and the five-year average of 46.6 bpa.
The most active soybean futures were unchanged at $10.00-1/4 a bushel, having firmed 0.8 percent on Wednesday.
The most active corn futures rose 0.32 percent to $3.87-1/4 a bushel. They gained 1 percent in the previous session after earlier hitting their lowest since June 30 at $3.79-1/4 a bushel.
Traders continue to closely monitor the weather as both corn and soybeans are in key development periods. Some reports of less rain than expected in western Iowa offered support to prices.
