Investors were selling most-active CBOT wheat and buying MGEX wheat as US winter wheat varieties remained too expensive in global markets even as drought conditions in the Dakotas and Montana reduced yield prospects for the spring wheat harvest.
"We have a demand drag on this market. It's just enough to offset the weather fears," Global Commodities Analytics president Mike Zuzolo said of US wheat.
CBOT September soft red winter wheat futures finished 4-3/4 cents lower at $5.06 per bushel, lowest since June 30. K.C. September hard red winter wheat declined 7 cents to $5.06-1/2 per bushel and MGEX September spring wheat was 9-1/4 cents higher to $7.67-1/4 per bushel.
The US Department of Agriculture after the close of futures trading rated the US spring wheat crop at 34 percent good to excellent, down 1 percentage point from a week ago and matching analyst expectations.
Good-to-excellent ratings for the US corn and soy crops also eased by 1 percentage point, to 64 percent and 61 percent respectively, matching expectations.
Both corn and soybean futures finished narrowly lower after prices rose at times earlier in the session. CBOT September corn settled down 1-1/4 cents at $3.75 per bushel and CBOT August soybeans off 4 cents to $9.85 per bushel.
"We're in the midst of a weather market," said Top Third Ag Marketing analyst Mark Gold. "The market is trying to digest the different forecasts."
Weather in many US growing areas was hot and relatively dry last week, even as crop-friendly precipitation was forecast for later this week in the western Midwest and parts of the northern Plains, agriculture meteorologists said.
However, temperatures were likely to be hot and above-normal during the next six to 15 days in much of the Midwest and Plains, potentially stressing crops, the Commodity Weather Group said in a note to clients.