By Julie Ingwersen
CHICAGO, June 27 (Reuters) – U.S. spring wheat futures soared to their highest level in nearly three years on Tuesday on forecasts for stressful weather in the northern Plains, analysts said.
Corn and soybean futures also climbed after a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) report said the condition of all three U.S. crops was worse than analysts had expected.
At 11:40 AM CST July spring wheat was trading up 23 cents at $6.86 ¾. Chicago and Kansas were up by four to five cents.
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“Some of the spring wheat areas are just parched, and they are going to remain dry over the next 10 to 14 days,” said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst with Futures International.
In its weekly U.S. crop conditions report Monday, the USDA rated 40 percent of the spring wheat crop in good to excellent condition, down from 41 percent a week earlier and below market expectations of 41 percent.
CBOT wheat followed MGEX wheat higher and drew additional support from a drop in the dollar, Reilly said. A weaker currency can make U.S. grains more competitive on the global export market. The dollar hit a more than nine-month low against the euro after the head of the European Central Bank opened the door to steps that might begin to reduce the central bank’s emergency stimulus to the economy.
CBOT corn and soybeans, like wheat, firmed on disappointing crop ratings.
The USDA rated 66 percent of U.S. soybeans in good to excellent condition, down from 67 percent a week ago and surprising analysts who expected an improvement.
The USDA rated 67 percent of the U.S. corn crop in good to excellent condition, unchanged from last week but below analysts’ expectations of 68 percent.
Traders were positioning ahead of the USDA’s June 30 U.S. sowing acreage and quarterly stocks reports, which have a history of jolting markets.
Analysts expected the government to raise slightly its estimate of U.S. 2017 corn plantings and trim is soybean plantings figure.
