CHICAGO, June 21 (Reuters) -
U.S. corn, soybean and wheat futures rose to multi-month highs on Monday, supported by concerns about crop shortfalls around the globe due to adverse weather in key production areas.
"Given the situation around the Corn Belt it now
seems highly unlikely that the USDA's yield estimate will be achievable," Summit Commodity Brokerage said in a research note. "If we stay dry, it will be hard for this market to do anything but work higher."
At 11:42 a.m. CDT (1642 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade December corn futures, which track the crop being grown in fields across the United States, were up 23 cents a bushel at $6.20-1/2. The contract hit its highest since Nov. 7 earlier in the session.
CBOT November soybeans were 16-1/4 cents higher at $13.59 a bushel after rising to $13.76, the peak for the new-crop contract since March 9.
CBOT September soft red winter wheat futures gained 32 cents to $7.40-3/4 a bushel, the highest for the most-active contract since Feb. 24.
The U.S. Agriculture Department cut its good-to-excellent ratings for the U.S. corn and soybean crops by more than expected on Tuesday afternoon, including steep drops in top-producing states Iowa and Illinois, as a deepening drought stressed crops in the heart of the Midwest farm belt.
Concern is also mounting about crops elsewhere, including Europe.
Germany's 2023 wheat crop of all types will fall 2.9% on the year to 21.87 million metric tons, the country's association of farm cooperatives said in its latest harvest estimate on Wednesday, as plants suffered from dry, hot weather.
The European Union's crop monitoring service MARS on Monday reduced nearly all its average yield forecasts for this year's grain and oilseed crops in the bloc, citing adverse weather conditions. (Additional reporting by Matthew Chye in Singapore and Sybille de La Hamaide in Paris; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Mark Potter and Richard Chang)
