Chicago | Reuters—Chicago corn and soybean futures fell on Tuesday for a third straight session as forecasts for cooler Midwest temperatures this week and continued periodic rains reinforced expectations for ample U.S. harvests, analysts said.
Wheat futures fell to two-month lows on technical selling and sluggish demand as the Northern Hemisphere harvest continued.
On the Chicago Board of Trade, December corn CZ25 futures settled down 3 cents at $4.11 per bushel after hitting $4.09-1/4, the lowest since July 14. New-crop November soybeans SX25 ended down 2 cents at $10.09-1/2 a bushel.
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Lentil prices on the Canadian Prairies eased back during the week ended July 28, said Levon Sargsyan, broker with Johnston’s Grain. Sargsyan noted that’s due to the recent rains that brought relief to some of the dry areas of the region.
CBOT September wheat WU25 finished down 8-3/4 cents at $5.29-3/4 per bushel after dipping to $5.26, its lowest since May 14.
Benign crop weather in the U.S. Corn Belt set the tone as corn and soybean crops continued to develop. The U.S. Department of Agriculture late on Monday rated 73 per cent of the corn crop as good to excellent, down a percentage point from the prior week but still the highest rating for this time of year since 2016.
The USDA rated 70 per cent of the soybean crop as good or excellent, up from 68 per cent last week, bucking trade expectations for a decline.
“We’ve got a big crop. There is no weather threat,” said Craig Turner, a commodity broker at StoneX.
“Seasonally, (futures) sell off into the end of August, unless it’s a drought year or we get a lot of demand. And we are not seeing either, so it’s just a grind lower,” Turner said.
The USDA’s next monthly supply/demand report is due on August 12 and is expected to provide further guidance on U.S. crop yields.
On the trade front, U.S. and Chinese officials agreed to seek an extension of their 90-day tariff truce following two days of talks in Stockholm aimed at defusing an escalating trade war between the world’s two biggest economies. No major breakthroughs were announced, and U.S. officials said it was up to President Donald Trump to decide whether to extend the truce that expires on August 12.
China’s appetite for soybeans is likely to weaken during the peak U.S. marketing season later this year, as record imports earlier in 2025 and tepid demand from animal feed producers have pushed up soymeal inventories at home, trade sources said.
—Additional reporting by Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris.
