CHICAGO: US corn futures rose 2.9% on Wednesday, supported by concerns that hot and dry weather in the US Midwest could cut into harvest yields, traders said.

Wheat and soybean futures also were strong, rebounding from sharp declines after the US Agriculture Department’s monthly World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimates report lowered the global demand outlook for crops.

The gains in corn, which were on track to close higher for the fifth time in six sessions, came as the US crop nears its crucial pollination phase of development.

“Intense heat is building in the Plains, which is expected to periodically pulsate deeper into the Midwest over the next several weeks,” Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist for broker StoneX, said in a note to clients. “An overall trend of below normal rainfall is also expected across most of the Ag Belt over the next several weeks.” At 11:10 a.m. CDT (1610 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December corn futures, which track the crop being grown in the fields, was up 17 cents at $6.03-1/2 a bushel.

CBOT November soybeans were up 17-1/2 cents at $13.60-1/2 a bushel and CBOT September wheat was 18-1/2 cents higher at $8.32-3/4 bushel. Both soybeans and wheat were rebounding from a one-week low hit earlier in the session.

“It is probably a little short-covering after what has been a pretty epic decline in a very quick fashion,” said Greg Grow, director of agribusiness at Archer Financial Services. “You are going to get some dead cat bounces along the way.” Traders also were monitoring negotiations regarding wheat exports from war-torn Ukraine.

Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish military delegations met with United Nations officials in Istanbul on Wednesday for talks on resuming exports of Ukrainian grain from the major Black Sea port of Odesa as a global food crisis worsens.