NOTE: Friday is the last trading day for CBOT September options.
WHEAT - Steady to down 1 cent per bushel
Steady to softer with futures hovering near contract lows set Monday in the September and December contracts. Plentiful global supplies and a bumper Russian wheat harvest hang over the market.
The US Department of Agriculture late Monday said the US spring wheat harvest was 58 percent complete, ahead of the five-year average of 51 percent. The USDA rated 34 percent of the crop in good to excellent condition, up from 33 percent the previous week.
Germany will harvest about 23.4 million tonnes of winter wheat in 2017, down 3 percent on the year following persistent summer rain, said DBV, an association of German farmers.
CBOT December soft red winter wheat last traded down 1/2 cent at $4.36-1/2 per bushel, K.C. December hard red winter wheat was steady at $4.35-3/4 while MGEX December spring wheat rose 1 cent at $6.70.
CORN - Steady to down 1 cent per bushel
Flat to weaker, with benchmark December corn erasing modest gains and turning lower ahead of the break in trade. Rains in the US Midwest this week ease concerns about dry conditions as the crop fills kernels. CBOT December continues to hover above its contract low of $3.58-1/2.
The USDA late Monday rated 62 percent of the US corn crop in good to excellent condition, unchanged from the previous week and in line with trade expectations.
The Farm Journal Midwest Crop Tour late Monday estimated corn yields in Ohio at 164.6 bushels per acre (bpa), up from 148.96 in 2016 and the three-year tour average of 159.8 bpa.
The tour estimated South Dakota corn yields at 147.97 bushels per acre, down from 149.8 bushels per acre in 2016 and the tour's three-year average of 156.1 bushels per acre.
CBOT December corn last traded down 1/4 cent at $3.62-3/4 per bushel.
SOYBEANS - Up 1 to 2 cents per bushel
Modestly higher in a technical bounce after Monday's lower close. Gains capped by beneficial rains in the Midwest this week that may bolster soy yield prospects.
Scouts on the first day of the four-day Farm Journal Midwest Crop Tour said soybean pod counts were below the tour's three-year averages in South Dakota and Ohio.
The USDA rated 60 percent of the US soybean crop in good to excellent condition, up from 59 percent a week earlier and in line with trade expectations.
CBOT November soybeans last traded up 1-1/4 cents at $9.37-1/2 a bushel.