CHICAGO: US wheat futures fell on Wednesday as forecasts for mild temperatures and some rain in key growing areas raised hopes that the crop will be in good condition before it heads into dormancy, traders said.

“US weather for wheat looks pretty good,” said Terry Reilly, senior commodity analyst at Futures International. “The warmer temperatures are expected to maybe give wheat conditions a bit of a boost.”

Corn and soyabean futures firmed, recovering from overnight weakness after the US Agriculture Department announced fresh export deals for both commodities.

Private exporters reported sales of 130,000 tonnes of soyabeans to China, the fifth trading day in a row a flash sale of the oilseed was announced, and 1.844 million tonnes of corn to Mexico.

The impact of Mexico’s deal was limited as the top buyer of US corn typically makes a big purchase of US corn in December.

At 10:30 a.m. CST (1630 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade March soyabean futures were up 6-1/4 cents at $12.56-1/2 a bushel. CBOT March corn was 1/2 cent higher at $5.86-1/2 a bushel.

Expectations for a bumper crop of both commodities in South America kept the gains in check. Forecasts have pointed to improved growing weather in recent days, but parts of southern Brazil remained dry.

Grain markets were cautious a day ahead of the USDA’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report.

Corn and soyabean markets are also assessing Tuesday’s announcement by the US government of plans to scale back the amount of biofuels that oil refiners were required to blend.

The wheat market is watching for an update on Australia’s harvest, with hopes that a drier spell in the coming week will avert further quality damage.