Spot basis bids for soyabeans and corn held steady at most processors and elevators around the US Midwest on Monday, grain dealers said. Farmers were booking small amounts of soyabeans due to a futures market rally that pushed cash prices to more than $10 per bushel in most locations.
Growers were booking contracts to deliver 900 to 1000 bushels of soyabeans on the spot market, a dealer in eastern Iowa said. Corn sales were slow. Rainy weather around the region kept most farmers out of the fields, delaying early planting of corn. Although the soyabean basis was mostly steady, bids rose by 5 cents per bushel at a processor in central Indiana. Bids also rose by 3 cents per bushel at a processor in Des Moines, Iowa.
The US Agriculture Department said on Monday that 2 percent of the US corn crop was planted as of April 12, below the five-year average of 6 percent. The winter wheat crop was rated 42 percent good to excellent, down from 43 percent in the prior week. Only 2 percent of the spring wheat crop had been planted, below the five-year average of 11 percent, USDA said.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, the May soyabean futures contract rose 14-1/2 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $10.21-1/2 a bushel, on follow-through support from the USDA's supply and demand report. CBOT May corn fell 2-3/4 cents to close at $3.87-1/2 a bushel on pressure from falling crude oil and a weak stock market. CBOT May wheat rose 1-1/4 cents to $5.23-1/4 a bushel, supported by short-covering.