Soybean Futures Higher

Soybean futures prices were higher Friday on the Chicago Board of Trade as uncertainty about a new farm bill continued to buffet prices. Corn was mixed and wheat was lower.

Soybean futures fell sharply early in the week on the passage by the Senate of a farm bill that would encourage farmers to sell their soybeans on cash markets rather than use them as collateral for government loans. A similar bill had been proposed by the American Soybean Assn., but reports of dissension in the industry association, particularly among farmers in the north, led to concern that the Senate-passed farm bill will not become law, analysts said.

The bill included a provision for per-acre payments to farmers to make up for lower loan rates, and analysts said farmers in the north generally farm fewer acres and have higher yields per acre than farmers in the south.

An ASA spokesman in Washington said the association continued to support the bill, however.

Livestock and meat prices were mostly lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange as the market geared up for a new report on the number of cattle on feedlots.