Spot basis bids for corn and soyabeans were mixed around the US Midwest on Tuesday after a strong futures market rally raised cash prices and led to some scattered farmer selling, grain dealers said.
Bids fell in areas where farmers were pocketing some cash after prices for corn rose by more than 18 cents per bushel and for soyabeans by more than 10 cents per bushel.
The advancing harvest, which had been delayed for weeks due to rainy weather around the region, also led to some selling. "We are seeing a good stream come in," a dealer in northern Ohio said. But some farmers were using the futures rally as an excuse to hold on tightly to their grain and wait for further price increases.
"There are some sales but they are not knocking the doors down to do a lot," a southern Ohio dealer said.
The slow selling caused some dealers to tighten their bids in hopes of piquing farmers' interest. Despite the progress of harvest, some elevators and processors still needed to boost the level of supplies on hand. But a drop in cash prices might be the trigger that spurs heavy country movement, causing farmers to book sales before prices fall sharply.
"We did get a little selling yesterday for sure," an Illinois dealer said. "(But) a little setback today might help us more." Strong overnight trading in wheat futures, which led corn and soyabeans higher on Monday, made some farmers hopeful that another broad rally was possible.
Many farmers were putting the recently harvested crops into storage and were waiting to fill up their bins before booking sales of surplus grain.