CHICAGO, Aug 17 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures rose on Thursday on concerns that an expected shift toward hot, dry weather could reduce the upcoming U.S. harvest.

The U.S. has little room for crop losses due to unfavorable weather because the government already projects that soybean supplies will be tight, analysts said. Some worries over field conditions are creeping into the market.

"There are some reports in the fields that soybeans and canola are a little bit disappointing," said Craig Turner, commodities trader at Daniels Trading.

"It does sound to us that maybe the pods are a little bit smaller and the counts are a little bit less than we were expecting in Illinois and Iowa."

The most-active soybean contract was up 10 cents at $13.33-1/2 a bushel by 11:15 a.m. CDT (1615 GMT) and reached its highest price since Aug. 4.

Corn futures were also stronger, with the most-active contract rising 3-3/4 cents to $4.85-1/4 a bushel after recovering on Wednesday from a December 2020 low.

U.S. farmers will harvest corn and soybeans this autumn, and August is the key month of development for soybeans.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture warned hot weather poses a risk to crops.

"A punishing heat wave will grip much of the south and the nation's mid-section, including the western Corn Belt, where temperatures approaching or reaching 100 degrees Fahrenheit could adversely affect filling summer crops," the USDA said in a daily weather report.

Market gains did not extend to wheat futures, which were weighed down by unimpressive U.S. export demand and expectations for large Russian shipments, traders said.

India is in talks with Russia to import wheat to curb food inflation ahead of elections next year, four sources told Reuters.

The most-active CBOT wheat contract fell 7 cents to $5.90-3/4 a bushel and hovered near a June 1 low reached this week.

(Reporting by Tom Polansek in Chicago, Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Enrico Dela Cruz in Manila Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, David Goodman and Deepa Babington)