Grains and Soybeans Mixed

Grain and soybean futures prices were mixed in light trading Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade as the first of the year’s crop forecasts was released.

Most of the session was dominated by anticipation of the forecasts, which were scheduled to be released after the close of trading Friday and Monday, said Bob Lekberg, a grain analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros.

Most traders were evening up their contract positions or staying out of the market entirely pending the release of the reports, which are considered a major influence on prices.

The report released Friday came from Conrad Leslie, a highly regarded private crop forecaster. Based on conditions of Aug. 1, Leslie predicted a corn crop of 8.15 billion bushels and a soybean crop of 1.99 billion bushels.

Analysts said the corn figure was about as expected and they didn’t anticipate much price movement as a result. The soybean figure was slightly higher than expectations, however, and could encourage selling Monday.

Cattle were higher and live hogs and frozen pork bellies were lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.