Hard red winter wheat cash bids in the US Plains were holding steady on Thursday amid good export demand and light farmer selling as futures prices continued to surge. Demand from export elevators helped pushed protein premiums for rail car wheat to and through Kansas City up 2 cents a bushel for 11.40 and 11.60 percent protein wheat supplies and up 1 cent a bushel for 12.20 pro wheat.
Farmers remained tight holders of wheat after selling large quantities of the new crop shortly after harvest. Kansas City Board of Trade March HRW wheat futures ended up 22-1/2 cents at $9.40 on Wednesday. USDA in its weekly export sales report on Thursday said US wheat export sales last week totalled 1,047,700 tonnes, within the range of estimates for 900,000 to 1,200,000 tonnes. Dryness remains a concern in western growing areas of the US Plains hard red winter wheat region. Showers were forecast for Okahoma and Texas but the rainfall is expected to miss Kansas, the largest wheat producing state.