Soybean Prices Fall on Favorable U.S. Weather; Wheat Also Drops

Aug. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Soybeans fell to the lowest price this month as favorable weather boosts the crop in the U.S., the world’s biggest exporter of the oilseed. Wheat declined as global supplies may rise.

In Nebraska, the fifth-biggest soybean-producer, participants in the Pro Farmer Midwest Crop Tour said pod counts from a sampling of plants in the eastern third of the state were up 9.1 percent from a year earlier. World wheat supplies will jump 8.3 percent, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture forecast.

Nebraska’s soybean crop is “unbelievable,” said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, a partner at Summit Commodity Brokerage in Des Moines, Iowa. “It’s never been stressed; it hasn’t been too hot; it hasn’t been too cool, and it’s got plenty of rain. The Pro Farmer Crop Tour hasn’t done anything to dispel that.”

Soybean futures for November delivery fell 1 cent, or 0.1 percent, to $9.58 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price earlier touched $9.405, the lowest since July 30. The most-active contract lost 5.5 percent last week because of favorable U.S. weather.

Wheat futures for December delivery declined 4.75 cents, or 1 percent, to $4.935 a bushel in Chicago, dropping for the third straight day. The price has plunged 8.7 percent since the end of June on speculation that increased global production will boost stockpiles.

World Wheat Production

Global wheat production in the marketing year that ended on May 31 totaled a record 682.4 million metric tons (25.1 billion bushels), the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report last week. That will boost ending stockpiles in the current marketing year to 183.6 million tons, up from 169.5 million a year earlier, the USDA said.

Soybeans are the second-biggest U.S. crop, valued at $27.4 billion in 2008, behind corn at $47.4 billion, government figures show. Wheat is fourth at $16.6 billion, behind hay. The U.S. is the biggest producer and exporter of soybeans and the world’s top shipper of wheat.