* Russia halts participation in Ukraine grain export deal
* Grain traders hope deal may still be renewed
* U.S. set to issue weekly corn, soy crop ratings
CHICAGO, July 17 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade grain futures eased on Monday as the markets shrugged at Russia's decision to halt participation in the deal that lets Ukraine export crops through the Black Sea.
Wheat and corn futures turned lower after rising earlier when Russia initially announced it was leaving the shipping deal.
Moscow had previously threatened to leave over what it called a failure to meet its demands to implement a parallel agreement easing rules for its own food and fertilizer exports.
Analysts said there are still expectations the deal may be renewed, and the markets were well aware of the risk for it to expire.
"We've heard Russia say they want to back out of the grain deal many, many times," said Ted Seifried, chief market strategist for Zaner Ag Hedge. "The trade is really skeptical that it's really over."
The deal, brokered by the United Nations and Turkey last July, aimed to alleviate a global food crisis by allowing Ukrainian grain blocked after Russia's February 2022 invasion to be exported safely.
Moscow said it would consider rejoining the pact if it saw "concrete results" on its demands but that its guarantees for the safety of navigation would meanwhile be revoked.
"I think it's suspended; it's maybe not over," said Sherman Newlin, analyst for Risk Management Commodities. "There's still some hope out there."
Most-active wheat futures fell 8-1/2 cents to $6.53 a bushel by 11:40 a.m. CDT (1640 GMT), while corn dropped 9-3/4 cents to $5.04 a bushel.
Soybeans rose 2-1/4 cents to $13.73 a bushel amid uncertainty over U.S. crop yields.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is set to issue an update on condition ratings of corn and soy crops after the close of trading.
In other news, U.S. soybean processors crushed fewer beans than expected in June as the monthly crush slumped to a nine-month low, National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) said. (Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago; Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Janane Venkatraman, Philippa Fletcher and Grant McCool)
