US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were mostly steady on Wednesday, with some scattered adjustments reflecting harvest activity and spot needs, wheat merchants said. The Texas Gulf basis eroded 2 cents a bushel and protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City dropped 6 cents a bushel due to increasing availability of new-crop wheat.
Still, harvest was slower than the typical pace and heavy rains from the Dakotas south into Texas over the past 24 hours further delayed harvest progress and reinforced concerns about low test weights and other quality issues, wheat merchants said.
"I'll be sending out a harvest report that is just one word long - rain," said one Kansas wheat dealer. A harvest report from Oklahoma, the second-highest US winter wheat producing state, issued Tuesday said combining was winding down in the south-west part of the state, with test weights averaging 59 pounds and yields averaging 30 bushels per acre. Around the Frederick area, average yields were higher, about 40 to 43 bushel per acre.
Harvest was nearly 50 percent completed in the central part of the state, with yields about 25 bu/acre and test weights ranging from 51 to 57 pounds. In north-west Oklahoma, harvest was expected to be active by the end of this week. Reported yields on some test-cut fields were at 58 bu/acre.
Meanwhile, HRW wheat futures rallied to 11-year highs on Tuesday and were expected to suffer a slight setback on Wednesday of 2 to 4 cents a bushel, traders said.
Kansas City Board of Trade July wheat ended Tuesday up 10-1/2 cents at $5.59, after rallying to a new high of $5.71, the highest point for the spot contract since the second quarter of 1996, when it soared past $7 a bushel. September settled up 10-3/4 cents at $5.73, after rising to $5.82, and December ended up 8-1/4 cents at $5.86-1/4, after hitting a new high of $5.96.