US wheat futures fell on Tuesday on a mild profit-taking setback following the market's run-up to a 5-1/2-week high on Monday, traders said. Soyabean futures also fell, weighed down by dry weather in South America that will allow farmers to accelerate the harvest of what is expected to be a huge crop.
Corn futures were hovering close to unchanged. The US Agriculture Department's reports on crop conditions in the US Plains added pressure to the wheat market but forecasts for some dry weather in the coming weeks limited the declines.
"Better conditions and weather concerns push and pull on the market," CHS Hedging said in a note to clients.
USDA reported that crop conditions for winter wheat in Kansas, the top production state for the grain, held steady at 56 percent good to excellent in the latest week. But that was up from 41 percent a year earlier.
Oklahoma hard red winter wheat was rated 67 percent good to excellent, up 1 percentage point from a week ago and 27 percentage points from a year earlier.
At 11:19 am CDT (1619 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat for May delivery was 2-1/2 cents lower at $4.76-1/4 a bushel.
CBOT May soyabeans were down 5-3/4 cents at $8.90 a bushel.
"Good South American harvest progress is expected for the next two weeks as much of Brazil and Argentina is forecast to see a drier bias evolve," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.
Brazil is in the middle of harvesting a massive soyabean crop of about 100 million tonnes while Argentina is estimated to produce close to 58 million tonnes.
CBOT May corn was unchanged at $3.68-3/4 a bushel. Traders noted support at the contract's 50-day moving average.
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