Soybean futures closed higher on Friday ahead of a USDA acreage report that is expected to show farmers intend to plant fewer acres to the crop this year. Corn was mixed, while wheat suffered losses.
Soybeans traded lower for most of the day on large 2024-25 Brazilian production, but reports said the market eventually rebounded on late bargain buying and positioning ahead of Monday’s USDA prospective plantings report, which is expected to show new-crop US soybean intentions at 83.7 million acres, down from 87.05 million in 2024. The USDA will also release a quarterly stocks report on Monday. May beans closed 6 ¼ cents higher at $10.23, and November was up 8 ½ cents at $10.29.
Corn was weighed down for a major portion of today’s session by expectations for more corn acres this spring. However, bargain buying and trader positioning also emerged later to eventually pull the nearby March contract into the black, while also limiting the declines in new-crop December. May corn gained 3 ¼ cents to $4.53 ¼, and December dipped 1 ¼ cents to $4.42 ½.
Wheat remained weak on Friday, with some of the pressure coming from forecasts for rainfall next week in most of the Soft Red Winter areas. Some much-needed rain is also expected to fall in Nebraska and the eastern portions of Kansas and Oklahoma for the Hard Red Winter crop. Southwestern HRW areas are likely to remain mostly dry for the next week to 10 days. May Chicago fell 3 ¾ cents to $5.28 ¼, May Kansas City lost 14 ½ cents to $5.51 ¾, and May Minneapolis dropped 7 ½ cents to $5.81.
