Spot basis bids for corn were mostly unchanged while soyabean bids were steady to firm around the US Midwest on Monday, grain dealers said. Farmer selling was expected to be slow. Most farmers were focused on planting tasks, but wet conditions were keeping many out of the fields.
Some farmers in Iowa were expected to seed corn on Monday, but most were still waiting for their fields to dry out. Corn planting has been delayed by rainy weather for most of the spring. The delays have threatened forecasts for the highest corn seedings in 63 years. If planting delays continue, some farmers may switch acres they had planned to devote to corn over to soyabeans.
Dealers began to roll their basis bids for corn and soyabeans to the July futures contracts from the May contracts, which are set to expire in about two weeks.
In overnight trading, the e-cbot trend for corn was down 9-1/4 cents per bushel to up 2 cents per bushel, while soyabeans fell 2-1/2 cents to 4 cents per bushel. Wheat was down 1-1/2 cents to 11-3/4 cents per bushel in e-cbot trade.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, corn futures were called 7 to 10 cents per bushel lower on forecasts for warmer and drier weather this week. Soyabean futures were expected to open 2 cents to 3 cents per bushel lower, pressured by weakness in corn and wheat. Wheat futures were seen 7 to 10 cents per bushel lower on diminishing drought concerns in European and Australian wheat areas.