Grain, Soybean Prices Firm

Government reports showing a nationwide lag in harvesting supported grain and soybean prices Tuesday in trading on the Chicago Board of Trade. “The market firmed up as the day wore on” with the release of USDA reports showing that corn and soybean harvests are behind schedule, said Victor Lespinasse, a grains analyst with Dean Witter Reynolds in Chicago.

Only 34% of the corn was in the bin, compared to a 47% average for this time of year, and soybeans were 35% harvested, compared to an average of 52%, Lespinasse said.

“That scared some people” and sparked a wave of buying in both pits, Lespinasse said. Soybean traders were further encouraged by reports of soybean disease in southern Illinois.

Live cattle prices were higher, feeder cattle and hogs were mixed and pork bellies were mostly lower in trading on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Traders in the cattle pits bought on expectations that third-quarter cattle-on-feed reports to be released Friday will show “a substantially reduced number of cattle put on feedlots” compared to last year, said Chuck Levitt, a livestock analyst with Shearson Lehman Bros. in Chicago.