CHICAGO: US soybean futures trimmed losses on Thursday amid concerns that a return of wet weather could extend planting delays.
Rain has slowed planting of soybeans and corn this spring, fueling worries that farmers may not sow as many acres as they originally intended. Late planting also threatens to reduce yields by postponing key stages of development until the hottest parts of summer.
Dry weather will open the door for fieldwork until Saturday, when showers are expected to begin again, said Mike Palmerino, meteorologist for Telvent DTN.
"We have waves of moderate to heavy rains," he said. "Producers are going to try to do as much work as they can, fields permitting."
Chicago Board of Trade July soybeans, the nearby contract, were down 0.2 percent at $15.29-1/2 a bushel by 12:40 p.m. CDT (1740 GMT), after dropping as low as $15.19-1/4 in earlier trading.
November soybeans which represent the crop that will be harvested in the autumn, dipped 0.1 percent to $12.99 a bushel after dropping as low as $12.85-1/4.
Spot-month July corn was up 0.2 percent at $6.62 a bushel, while new-crop December corn rose 0.7 percent to $5.46 a bushel.
Farmers are anxious to put their crops in the ground.
The US Department of Agriculture, in a weekly progress report on Monday, said soybean planting was 57 percent complete as of June 1, the slowest rate for that time of year since 1996. Planting was behind the five-year average of 74 percent.
"I think we are still struggling with the acreage dilemma because of weather," said Dan Cekander, grain analyst for Newedge USA in Chicago. "There is major uncertainty about next week's weather, which is very important."
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