Chicago | Reuters—Chicago soybean and corn futures chopped up and down on Wednesday as traders monitored results from a U.S. Midwest field tour that initially confirmed strong yield prospects, traders said.
Wheat recovered after hitting contract lows as futures bounced off technical support levels.
The most active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade Sv1 settled 2-1/4 cents higher to $10.36 per bushel. CBOT corn Cv1 ended 3/4 cent higher at $4.04 per bushel.
Second-day results from the closely-watched Pro Farmer crop tour on Tuesday showed Indiana corn yield potential at a 22-year high, though soybean pod counts were slightly below 2024 levels. Nebraska recorded its highest soybean pod count in at least 22 years and the best corn yield outlook in four years.
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Chicago Mercantile Exchange cattle futures rose for the fourth session in a row on Wednesday, as a continued tight supply of cattle and resilient consumer demand for beef boosted futures, traders said.
The annual tour, which continues until Thursday, is widely followed by the grain market and particularly scrutinized this year after the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a much bigger-than-expected projection of the 2025 corn crop.
“What they’re seeing is falling in line with what the USDA is putting out there,” Chuck Shelby, president of Risk Management Commodities, said.
The soybean market has found support from rising soymeal futures, which have been buoyed by scheduled downtime at crush plants and an uptick in export demand.
On Tuesday, U.S. soybean farmers urged President Donald Trump in a letter to reach a trade deal with China that secures significant soybean purchase agreements.
CBOT wheat Wv1 settled 7 cents higher to $5.28-1/4 per bushel.
Wheat prices remain near a five-year low, pressured by ample global supply amid rising expectations for Russia’s 2025 wheat crop.
Hopes of progress toward ending the war in Ukraine, following meetings hosted by Trump, have also weighed on prices, though the path forward in negotiations remained uncertain.
—Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Ella Cao and Lewis Jackson in Beijing.
