US wheat futures fell on Wednesday, extending their decline under pressure from the ongoing harvest of a bountiful crop in the Plains and the Midwest which threatens to add to a glut of supplies that is largely being shunned by overseas buyers. Corn futures also dropped, pressured by forecasts for rain in key US growing areas, and soyabeans fell as traders staked out positions ahead of a key US Agriculture Department report on Thursday.
The most actively traded Chicago Board of Trade soft red winter wheat contract sank 2.8 percent, hitting its lowest since March 2 and notching its fourth straight negative session. K.C. hard red winter wheat staked out a fresh 10-year low and closed lower for the fifth day in a row. CBOT September soft red winter wheat settled down 12-3/4 cents at $4.44-1/2 a bushel. K.C. September hard red winter wheat was 8-1/2 cents lower at $4.19-3/4 a bushel.
CBOT December corn was down 11-1/4 cents at $3.83 a bushel and CBOT November soyabeans dropped 7-3/4 cents to $11.12-1/2 a bushel. Some forecasts for rain in dry parts of the US Midwest during the weekend added pressure to both corn and soyabeans. US farmers may have increased soyabean sowings to 83.8 million acres this year, up from the USDA's March estimate of 82.2 million acres, analysts said ahead of the release of the USDA's annual acreage report on Thursday. As they switched to soyabeans, US farmers may have cut corn plantings to 92.8 million acres, from 93.6 million forecast by the USDA in March.