Spot cash basis bids for hard red winter were unchanged on Tuesday in the southern US Plains, where wet conditions were delaying the harvest, dealers said. The National Weather Service posted flood warnings in parts of central Kansas after storms generated 3 to 5 inches (7.6 to 12.7 cm) of rain in the past day. Harvest in southern Oklahoma has been halted for at least a week due to the showers. Recent rains may help boost test weights for maturing wheat in north-west Kansas and Nebraska.
USDA said the US winter wheat harvest was 9 percent complete as of Sunday, behind the five-year average of 12 percent. USDA pegged harvest progress at 30 percent in Texas and 26 percent in Oklahoma, while the Kansas harvest had not begun. Protein premiums for railcar wheat to and through Kansas City were unchanged on Monday. Analysts expect USDA in its monthly crop production report on Wednesday to lower its estimate of the US hard red winter wheat harvest, but raise its forecast for 2014/15 US wheat ending stocks.
