US southern Plains spot basis bids for hard red winter wheat were steady to weaker on Friday amid scattered producer selling, dealers said. Farmers were selling modest amounts of wheat to make space for the harvest of autumn crops, they said. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City on Thursday rose 2 cents a bushel for wheat with 11.8 through 13.8 percent protein, while premiums other grades were unchanged.
Premiums for 11.8 pro wheat jumped 11 cents a day earlier while higher protein grades rose 4 to 6 cents. The rising premiums come after heavy rains hit parts of the northern Plains hard red spring wheat belt this week, with more forecast for this weekend. The rains threaten the quality of the spring wheat crop. Grade factors for the 2014 US hard red winter wheat crop improved as the harvest moved north, a weekly report from trade group Plains Grains Inc showed.