Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were mostly steady at processors and elevators in the interior US Midwest on Thursday as farmers held back from booking crop sales, dealers said. Farmers sold light amounts of old-crop corn and soyabeans on Wednesday, but were reluctant to book additional sales on Thursday as Chicago Board of Trade corn and soya futures were pressured by weather forecasts for rain.
The US Midwest has been ravaged by extreme drought conditions which have damaged crops throughout the region. The forecasted rain showers boosted hopes that beneficial moisture would help some soyabean fields. But lower CBOT futures and concerns about crop yields kept farmers from booking new-crop sales and old-crop sales also slowed, grain merchants said.
A closely watched Decatur, Illinois, processor cut its soyabean bid by 10 cents per bushel. Soyabean bids were higher by 5 cents per bushel at an Iowa elevator and an Iowa processor. Soyabean bids were mixed on Midwest waterways. A soya bid was lower by 11 cents per bushel at an Iowa terminal on the Mississippi River, higher by 1 cent on the Illinois River and steady at a port location in Toledo, Ohio.
Water levels were closely monitored on both the Illinois and Mississippi rivers. The water level has decreased near a Davenport, Iowa, terminal on the Mississippi River but not enough to impede loading barges, a dealer at the location said. The severe drought in the US Midwest wreaked more havoc across the country on Thursday, forcing barges on the Mississippi River to lighten loads for fear of getting stuck and raising more concerns about higher prices for food and gasoline. Almost 30 percent of the nine-state Midwest was suffering extreme drought, nearly triple from the previous week, according to the US Drought Monitor for the week ending July 24.
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