US Plains hard red winter wheat basis bids were mostly steady Friday, with rains continuing to delay the harvest in parts of the Plains. A report issued Friday by an organisation for Kansas wheat growers demonstrated the wide variability seen in this year's new crop.
While some farmers and elevators were reporting good results, others were reporting a disappointing crop. Proteins were low due to excessive rainfall and there was a lot of wheat with low test weights and insect-damaged kernels in wheat supplies trading through Kansas City, a merchant here said Friday. Better wheat was coming out of north-west Kansas and Colorado, with poor quality in central and eastern parts of Kansas.
The harvest problems fuelled more gains at the Kansas City Board of Trade, where KCBT July futures ended up 11-1/4 cents at $6.00-1/4 per bushel Thursday, with September up 4-3/4 cents at $6.07-1/4.