Cash basis bids for corn and soyabeans were starting to crumble in the US Midwest Tuesday in response to a pickup in harvest selling, but bids held firm in areas where harvest progress was slow, dealers said. Soyabean bids posed the biggest declines, with the basis plunging 39 cents in Des Moines, Iowa, and 15 cents in Decatur, Illinois.
For corn, Chicago processor bids fell 4 cents while eastern rail bids were down 2 cents. The basis was 3 cents weaker in Blair, Nebraska. Farmers were monitoring moisture levels of their crops, and some elevators were attracting business by offering discounts on grain drying services.
Rising barge freight costs pressured river bids. On the Mississippi River, barges for this week at St. Louis were offered at 460 percent of tariff, from 450 on Monday. On the Illinois and Ohio rivers, barges were offered at 475 percent of tariff, up from 450 percent a day earlier.
The National Weather Service posted frost advisories for Tuesday night down into north-east Iowa and north-west Illinois. Frost early Tuesday was limited to the western fringe of the crop belt and the eastern Dakotas - USDA meteorologist. Rains expected later this week may slow fieldwork.
USDA said the US soyabean harvest was 5 percent complete, behind the five-year average of 18 percent. The US corn harvest was 6 percent complete, lagging the five-year average of 18 percent. At the Chicago Board of Trade, corn futures closed higher on concerns about cool, wet weather slowing the harvest and some corn/soyabean spreading, traders said. CBOT December corn ended up 2-1/4 cents at $3.41 per bushel. CBOT November soya fell 2-1/2 cents at $9.17 per bushel. CBOT December wheat closed down 8-1/4 cents at $4.47-1/2 a bushel.
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