Soybeans near 7-year peak on S.American crop worries; wheat eases

CHICAGO, March 8 (Reuters) - U.S. soybean futures hit their highest in almost seven years on Monday as dry weather in Argentina and excessive rains in Brazil stoked supply concerns.

Wheat futures declined, pressured by forecasts for beneficial rains in the U.S. Plains winter wheat belt late this week. Corn futures were narrowly mixed in choppy trade.

A firmer U.S. dollar hung over the markets, theoretically making U.S. grains less competitive globally.

As of 12:39 p.m. CST (1839 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade May soybeans were up 7-1/2 cents at $14.37-1/2 per bushel, paring gains after reaching $14.60, the highest price on a continuous chart of the most-active soybean contract since June 2014.

Contract highs were set across the board in CBOT soybean and soyoil futures.

CBOT May wheat was down 5-3/4 cents at $6.47-1/4 a bushel. May corn was up 1/2 cent at $5.46 a bushel while back months hit contract highs, including the new-crop December contract, which represents corn that will be planted this spring.

Soybean futures set the tone, surging in early moves on South American weather woes.

"Brazil's soybean harvest is being dogged, and a little depleted, by wet weather," said Tobin Gorey of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Argentina's hot, dry weather outlook is threatening soybean crops."

Brazilian farmers had harvested an estimated 35% of the planted soybean area through last Thursday, down from 49% a year ago and the slowest pace in a decade, agribusiness consultancy AgRural said. Bean quality is also being affected by damp conditions.

Soybean futures are poised to rise into a $15.53-1/2 to $15.63-1/2 range, said Reuters analyst Wang Tao.

Traders were adjusting positions ahead of a monthly supply/demand report due Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, while also looking ahead to the USDA's big U.S. planting intentions and quarterly stocks reports on March 31.

Analysts expect the USDA on Tuesday to lower its estimates for 2020/21 ending stocks for soybeans and corn.

(Additional reporting by Michael Hogan in Hamburg and Naveen Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Susan Fenton)