US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were steady to firmer on Monday, with farmer selling still limited, grain merchants said. Mill demand was sharper for spot supplies and wheat movement was sluggish, helping push the basis in Catoosa, Oklahoma, 3 cents firmer, and driving protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City as much as 5 cents higher.
Frigid temperatures through the Plains sparked talk of possible winterkill in certain areas of the US winter wheat belt. But HRW wheat dealers largely shrugged off such talk, saying snowcover or good soil moisture through many areas should protect the new wheat.
"Certainly, the moisture has done a lot more good than the cold has done damage," said one Kansas grain merchant. Futures prices at the Kansas City Board of Trade closed 1/2 to 1 cent lower on Friday, with the March wheat contract down 1/2 cent at $4.87 a bushel, May down 1/2 cent at $4.97-1/2 and July down 3/4 cent at $4.98-1/2.
The market was expected to post gains of 1 to 2 cents on Monday, with grain market strength seen led by soybean futures and tied, at least in part, to a report Friday that US soybean acreage would potentially fall to 66 million acres, down 9.5 million acres from last year.
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