Corn futures ended lower for the second straight day on Tuesday, giving back more of the gains that followed in the wake of Thursday’s bullish USDA acreage report. Wheat and soybeans closed in the red as well.
Much of the decline in corn was attributed to improving moisture conditions in the American Midwest ahead of the spring planting season. Rain fell on much of the region from eastern Kansas to Ohio and Michigan on Monday, while a mix of rain and light snow brought beneficial moisture to areas from east-central South Dakota and northeastern Nebraska to eastern Iowa and central and southern Wisconsin, according to World Weather Inc. More rain is forecast for the eastern Midwest and Wisconsin over the next 10 days. The USDA’s first crop progress report for the 2024 growing season showed national corn planting at 2% complete as of Sunday, 1 point ahead of the five-year average. May corn dropped 9 cents to $4.26 ½, and December lost 6 ¾ cents to $4.68.
The improving Midwest weather also weighed on soybeans, with May down 11 ¾ cents to $11.74, and November down 5 ½ cents at $11.77.
Wheat was pressured by the strong condition of the 2024 US winter wheat crop. The crop progress report, released after the close on Monday, pegged the nationwide winter wheat crop at 56% good to excellent as of Sunday. That was 1 point below the average pre-report trade guess but still 28 points above a year earlier. May Chicago wheat was down 11 ¾ cents at $5.45 ¼, May Kansas City lost 12 ¼ cents to $5.63 ¼, and May Minneapolis dropped 7 ¼ cents to $6.27 ½.
