After Monday's close, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lowered its condition rating for the nation's corn for a third straight week on Monday following a stretch of hot, dry weather in the Midwest, while soybean ratings held steady following a larger-than-anticipated drop a week earlier.
Recent rain and cooling temperatures have been seen as bearish for futures, analysts said. USDA also reported that corn conditions improved in the eastern Corn Belt, including in Ohio, Indiana and No. 2 corn state Illinois. Ratings were flat in top producer Iowa, but fell in Nebraska, Minnesota, Kansas and North Dakota, USDA data showed.
"When the energy markets slipped, so did the grains," said Jim Gerlach, president of A/C Trading in Brookston, Indiana. "Now, they're trading weather and improving weather."
CBOT's most-active corn futures contract Cv1 were down 1.59% at $4.65 a bushel at 12:07 p.m. CDT (1707 GMT), while most-active soybeans Sv1 fell 1.45% at $11.75 a bushel.
The agency reported that 61% of corn was in good-to-excellent condition as of Sunday, down from 63% good to excellent a week earlier. It was the lowest corn condition rating for the 31st week of the year since 2023, according to USDA data. Analysts polled by Reuters, on average, had expected the rating to remain steady with last week's.
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