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Wheat & soybeans down

Wheat for September delivery closed down 5 1/4 cents at $ 2.37 a bushel. September soybeans were down 1 1/2 cents at $ 4.40 3/4.

Prolonged US heatwave may harm wheat

Grain markets edged lower on profit taking, but remained worried about intense late summer heat baking crops in the plains and Delta states of the USA.

Soybean for November delivery closed 1 - 1/2 cents a bushel low at
$ 5.03 - 1/2, while December corn ended 2 - 1/2 cents lower at $ 1.94 - 1/4. December wheat fell 3/4 cents at $ 2.67 - 1/2.

Despite that finish, November soybeans gained 33 cents in the week and hit ten week highs on Thursday.

Traders fear that the prolonged heat wave in the plains and Delta states from Arkansas to Mississippi will trim this year's production. The US Agriculture Department last month predicted a record 10.40 billion bushels of corn and a record 2.99 billion bushels of soybeans would be grown this year.

Traders now expect that the dpearm4ent, in its next estimate on 12 September, will cut back on those projections. Meanwhile, the plains heat was also drying out soils and delaying fieldwork for winter wheat seeding.