Spot basis bids for soyabeans were mostly steady to weaker in the interior US Midwest on Friday, with values falling 15 cents at two Iowa locations as the harvest of new-crop soyabeans approached. The soya basis at an elevator in Council Bluffs, Iowa, fell 15 cents from the previous day and has dropped $1.05 since August 23. One exception was Burns Harbour, Indiana, where the soyabean basis firmed by 10 cents.
Corn bids were mostly steady. Dealers have begun rolling their bids to post against the CBOT December corn futures contract now that the CBOT September contract is in delivery. Barge freight values held firm at elevated levels Friday, supported by snarled traffic and low water on the Mississippi River that has restricted supplies of empty barges.
Iowa, the No 1 corn-producing US state, on Friday began requiring the state's dairy processors to test all milk received in Iowa for aflatoxin, the toxic by-product of a mold that tends to spread in drought-stressed corn. Rain and wind from the remnants of Hurricane Isaac, now a tropical depression, were expected to cross the central US Midwest this weekend, stalling crop harvests and causing some localised damage - meteorologist.
At the Chicago Board of Trade, wheat futures fell more than 1 percent on month-end fund positioning and bearish news that Russia said it will not limit grain exports. Corn and soyabeans also declined on profit-taking after corn soared to a drought-induced record high early in the month and soyabeans set a record high on Thursday.