Corn and soya lower

US corn and soyabean futures reversed course to end lower on Tuesday as investors took profits on updated weather forecasts for more rainfall in the Midwest farm belt, and on selling ahead of Friday's key government crop report detailing drought damage.
Corn and soyabeans fell 1 percent, erasing earlier gains and dragging wheat lower as updated weather outlooks called for rain in Missouri and Illinois, states hit hard by the worst drought in 56 years spanning two-thirds of the contiguous United States. Analysts said that while the rains might come too late for the corn crop, much of which has passed the crucial pollination stage of reproduction, they might benefit late-planted soyabeans as the crop go through the pod-filling stage.
Meteorologist Andy Karst of World Weather Inc said rainfall of 0.50 inch to 1.0 inch was now forecast for Wednesday and Thursday in Missouri, west-central Illinois, western and southern Iowa and southern South Dakota. "Previously we were expecting 0.20 inch to 0.75 inch," he said, adding that updated outlooks were now showing increased rains for Thursday and Friday of 1.00 or 2.00 inches in northern Indiana, southern Michigan, Ohio and Kentucky.
Earlier outlooks called for 0.50 inch of rain. US corn ending stocks were expected to be the smallest in 17 years next summer, the poll of 21 analysts showed. Soyabean ending stocks were seen falling to their lowest levels in at least 32 years. CBOT November soyabeans fell 1.2 percent to end at $15.65-3/4 a bushel. December corn was 0.6 percent lower at $8.00-1/2, while September wheat was down 0.5 percent at $8.89 a bushel.
The USDA said 29 percent of soyabeans remained in good-to-excellent condition for the week ending August 5, snapping six straight weeks in which the crop's health had deteriorated. The condition of the corn crop dropped 1 percentage point to 23 percent in that category, matching analysts' expectations.
Grain markets were also consolidating before the USDA issues its supply-demand report on Friday. CBOT corn futures have soared more than 50 percent and soyabeans by about 30 percent over the past two months as the worst drought in 56 years devastated the crops. On Friday, the US Department of Agriculture will update its estimate of the drought damage and analysts polled by Reuters are expecting a big reduction in yields and production.