By Kirk Maltais


-Corn for July delivery fell 0.7%% to $4.46 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Friday, in reaction to trader anticipation for strong crops heading into June.

-Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.4% to $12.05 1/4 a bushel.

-Wheat for July delivery fell 0.2% to $6.80 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Steady Start: CBOT grains fell as traders and analysts anticipate row crops will have ample moisture to emerge healthy. "Despite a wet May, it was warm and allowed some wet spots to dry--allowing farmers to get corn in at normal pace and beans actually ahead of normal," Ocean State Research's Joel Karlin said. The most fruitful areas appear to be in the Eastern Corn Belt, analysts said, with some areas in the Central Plains behind schedule thanks to receiving too much rain. The USDA will issue its first update on corn crop quality on Monday, which the market is getting into position for.

Eyes on Fed, Weather: Macro indicators have investors considering if the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates at all in 2024, which has tempered enthusiasm in end-of-the-month trade. For grains specifically, the weather forecast heading into June is non-eventful, AgResource said in a note. "The Central U.S. weather forecast is non-threatening, which has traders wondering whether the overnight bounce can be sustained," the firm said.


INSIGHT


Harvesting Kicks Off: The winter wheat harvest has begun in the U.S., which will influence CBOT prices in the coming days. "We are moving from Texas through Oklahoma, and by the end of next week should be into Kansas for the hard red winter wheat, and on the soft red side, the Gulf Coast states are bringing in the sheaves as fast as they can in between raindrops," Charlie Sernatinger of Marex said in a note. He adds that some traders think U.S. wheat production has been underestimated, which may put pressure on futures as harvesting progresses.

Exports Still Lag: Export sales of soybeans in the current marketing year rose 18% from the previous week, but were on the low end of analyst forecasts. The USDA said in its latest export sales report that soybean sales for the 2023/24 marketing year were 329,400 metric tons for the week ended May 23. Sales for 2024/25 totaled 6,900 tons. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week forecast total soybean sales of 250,000 tons to 700,000 tons. Sales of wheat and corn fell within analyst forecasts.


AHEAD


-The USDA will release its weekly grains export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

-The USDA will release its monthly Grain Crushings report at 3 p.m. ET Monday.

-The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-31-24 1539ET