Wheat futures rose to a 10-week high on speculation that dry weather in the U.S. Great Plains will limit planting of the winter crop during the next two months. Corn and soybeans were little changed. The southern Plains may have “only a few scattered thundershowers” through Aug. 30, with most of the rain coming in northern areas, according to a Telvent DTN forecast. Much of southern Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, the three biggest winter- wheat growers last year, are experiencing “exceptional” drought, the most severe rating on the U.S. Drought Monitor maintained by the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. “Wheat is underpinned by the hard, red winter-wheat- planting concerns,” Mike Zuzolo, the president of Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting, said by telephone from Lafayette, Indiana. “The weather is looking very, very dry, and farmers are under crunch time for getting moisture replenished before planting fields in mid-September.” Wheat futures for December delivery rose 10.5 cents, or 1.4 percent, to settle at $7.8775 a bushel at 1:15 p.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. Earlier, the price touched $7.93, the highest since June 13. Futures are up 16 percent in the past year. Winter wheat, the most common variety grown in the U.S., is planted in September and October, goes dormant until March and is harvested starting in May. The grain is used to make bread. Corn, Soybeans Corn futures for December delivery rose 0.5 cent to $7.435 a bushel on the CBOT. Yesterday, the price reached $7.4875, the highest for a most-active contract since June 9. The commodity is up 11 percent this month on concerns that dry weather in the U.S. Midwest would hurt yields. Soybean futures for November delivery dropped 0.75 cent to $13.9275 a bushel. Yesterday, the oilseed rose to $14.0325, the highest since July 19. Futures are up 39 percent in the past year. Corn and soybeans swung between gains and losses on signs that demand for U.S. exports is slowing as prices climb, while production may slide because of hot, dry weather in the Midwest. U.S. exporters sold 152,287 metric tons of corn in the week ended Aug. 18 for delivery in the marketing year that starts Sept. 1, the Department of Agriculture said today. That’s 46 percent less than a week earlier. The U.S. Census Bureau said today that soybean inventories rose in July from a year earlier, indicating a slowdown in demand. Pro Farmer Tour Participants on the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour, traveling across seven states this week, have reported corn and soybean yields lower than last year in Indiana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Illinois and western Iowa. Preliminary reports today in Minnesota and central Iowa showed larger corn yields and smaller soybean pod counts than last year. Crop-tour findings are “pretty well dialed into the market,” as yields have come in near analyst expectations, said Don Roose, the president of U.S. Commodities Inc. in West Des Moines, Iowa. “The slowdown in export demand” kept markets under pressure, he said in a telephone interview. Corn is the largest U.S. crop, valued at $66.7 billion in 2010, followed by soybeans at $38.9 billion, government data show. Wheat ranks fourth at $13 billion, behind hay. To contact the reporter on this story: Whitney McFerron in Chicago at wmcferron1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net.

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