US corn and soya futures slipped on Tuesday as a widely watched crop tour projected bumper US harvests and traders expected more reports of robust crops, while wheat jumped on concerns about reduced supplies from Ukraine. Markets came under pressure as participants on the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour were expected to find big yields on their second day of surveying fields.
On Monday, its first day, the tour projected a record-large corn yield of 182.11 bushels per acre in Ohio, above the three-year tour average of 146.13 bushels. The tour will likely find even bigger crops in top-producing states like Iowa and Illinois, said Rich Nelson, chief market strategist for brokerage Allendale in Illinois.
"There's a growing realisation that as they move toward Illinois and Iowa, that this is going to be the real bearish issue," he said. Chicago Board of Trade December corn fell 0.2 percent to $3.70-3/4 a bushel by 11:36 am CDT (1636 GMT), adding to a decline of 1.5 percent in the previous session. November soyabeans lost 1.1 percent to $10.46 a bushel.
Wheat traders eyed Ukraine, a major exporter, as a spokesman for the prime minister said the country will lose 15 percent of its grain crop in two violence-hit regions. December wheat rose 1.1 percent to $5.60-1/2 a bushel after closing down 1.6 percent on Monday.