By Mark Weinraub
CHICAGO, Oct 6 (Reuters) – U.S. corn and soybean futures surged on Monday, with both commodities on track for their biggest gains since Sept 12 due to concerns that the slowing pace of harvest in the U.S. Midwest will delay deliveries of much-needed supplies, traders said.
Canola followed soybeans higher.
“We have got a wetter forecast,” said Bill Gentry, a broker at Risk Management Commodities in Lafayette, Indiana. “That is definitely going to cramp the style for some harvest activity. It could just take these guys forever to get this job done.”
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Analysts were expecting a U.S. Agriculture Department report on Monday afternoon that corn harvest had advanced just eight percentage points and the soybean harvest 13 percentage points in the past week due to wet conditions in the fields.
More rain was in the forecast for the eastern Corn Belt later this week, which will keep farmers in Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky from running combines. Several inches of rain also were expected in southern areas due to remnants of Tropical Storm Simon.
“Harvest progress is going to be slowed to a standstill late this week in the far southern Midwest and northern Delta,” said Josh Senechal, a meteorologist at Freese-Notis based in Iowa.
Traders also noted some short-covering as traders staked out positions ahead of the USDA’s monthly supply and demand report on Friday.
Wheat also advanced, climbing to the highest level since Sept. 18 as slowing of delivery of supplies from Russia boosted demand for U.S. export offerings.
