CHICAGO: US wheat, corn and soybean futures fell on Friday, with forecasts for beneficial crop weather across key growing areas sparking a round of fund liquidation ahead of the weekend, trader said.
Wheat lead the declines with the front-month K.C. hard red winter wheat contract sagging 1.9 percent, on an outlook for some much-needed rain in drought-stressed parts of the US Plains in the coming days.
Corn, soybean and spring wheat futures were pressured by warming weather that should allow farmers to pick up the pace of their delayed planting.
Corn hit its lowest since April 4 while soybeans fell to a two-week low.
"Our weather forecast is going to open up and allow us to get some fieldwork done," said Bill Gentry, a broker at Risk Management Commodities in Lafayette, Indiana. "I think the prospects are going to improve."
At 9:25 a.m. CDT (1425 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May soft red winter wheat futures were down 8-1/2 cents at $4.68-1/4 a bushel. K.C. hard red winter wheat for May delivery was off 9-3/4 cents at $4.85-1/2 a bushel.
"Weather forecasters continue to expect a storm system through the Hard Red Winter (HRW) wheat region starting today and continuing through to Sunday," said Tobin Gorey, director of agricultural strategy at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
CBOT May corn futures were down 3-1/4 cents at $3.78-3/4 a bushel. CBOT May soybeans were off 4 cents at $10.33-1/4 a bushel.
"A warming trend is finally on the way for the first time in April after one more cool five-day stretch across most major US crop regions, which will hasten the planting pace in much-needed fashion," Thomson Reuters Weather Research said.
Concerns about a trade spat with China threatening US exports cast a bearish tone across the agricultural sector.
Several ships carrying cargoes of sorghum from the United States to China have changed course since Beijing imposed hefty anti-dumping deposits on US imports of the grain, trade sources and a Reuters analysis of export and shipping data showed.
For the week, soybean futures have fallen 2.0 percent, corn futures have fallen 1.9 percent and CBOT wheat was off 0.9 percent.
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