By Kirk Maltais

-- Wheat for September delivery fell 2.9% to $7.63 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Wednesday after Iraq announced that it had cancelled a previously announced tender for U.S. wheat and India announced a bigger-than-expected projection for its next wheat crop.

-- Corn for December delivery rose 0.3% to $6.12 a bushel.

-- Soybeans for November delivery rose 0.7% to $13.90 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Weight of the World: A cancellation of a tender by Iraq, which was previously announced for 50,000 metric tons of U.S. wheat, put pressure on futures.

"Wheat prices came under pressure today on chatter in the cash market that Iraq cancelled its tender due to high prices," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX in a note. "Yet, prices largely remain within the range of the past month to this point."

If true, the cancellation comes after India's government estimated the country's wheat crop as larger than previously expected, this despite hot weather seen as hurting crops there.

At the Forefront: The watch for rainfall -- or the lack thereof -- continued to be the driving force behind grain trader decisions Wednesday, said Jack Scoville of Price Futures Group.

"We got some rain in the region lately but we need a lot more," Mr. Scoville told the WSJ. "Corn yields are already affected in a negative way and soybeans will really start to suffer without more rain."

Weather forecasts for crop-growing areas have turned drier, he added, although temperatures are expected to remain mild.

No More for Now: The declines in CBOT grain futures seen in recent sessions appeared to find a low point for now.

However, longer-term trends suggest that further drops may be in store, said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage in a note. "The outside markets are mixed with lower equity prices and a stronger dollar," he said.

The U.S. Dollar index on the ICE was virtually unchanged this afternoon.

INSIGHTS

Falling Back: Daily production of ethanol in the U.S. dropped again this week, falling to the lowest it has been since late April. In its latest weekly report, the EIA said that daily ethanol production fell to 983,000 barrels per day for the week ended Aug. 12, which is down from 1.022 million barrels the previous week.

It is the first time since May that daily ethanol production has been below the 1 million barrel-per-day mark, and the lowest daily production has been since April.

Inventories rose, meanwhile, climbing to 23.45 million barrels, which is up from 23.26 million barrels reported last week.

Potential Upside: Grain traders surveyed by The Wall Street Journal are forecasting that grain export sales may perk up this week, this after being low in recent weekly reports.

Traders forecast that wheat export sales may rise to as high as 600,000 metric tons, corn to as much as 1 million tons, and soybeans to as much as 800,000 tons.

If sales do go to these high ends, then it will be in some cases more than double sales reported last week.

Staying the Course: Farmland prices are continuing to climb, even after passing through record levels over the past year.

In Illinois, acres are averaging $8,950 per acre, a record high and 13% higher than last year, according to USDA data.

The uptick in land values matches high commodity prices, but easing prices in the coming years along with higher interest rates may tame the record values.

"Farmland returns could fall, and corn and soybean prices are the most likely cause of those declines," said professors with the University of Illinois in a note.

AHEAD

-- The USDA is scheduled to release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.

-- The USDA is due to release its monthly Cattle on Feed Report at 3 p.m. EDT Friday.

-- The CFTC is scheduled to release its weekly commitments of traders report at 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday.

-- Deere & Co. is due to release its third-quarter earnings report on Friday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 17, 2022 15:14 ET (19:14 GMT)