By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for July delivery rose 2.5%, to $6.22 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, rising in response to drought conditions expanding in western U.S. wheat fields.

--Corn for July delivery rose 0.4%, to $4.64 1/2 a bushel.

--Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.4%, to $11.74 3/4 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Spreading Drought: Dry weather in the U.S. Plains gave CBOT wheat futures support. The U.S. Drought Monitor map shows the spread of extreme drought in Nebraska, with patches spreading in Oklahoma and Texas. While dry weather supported wheat, if these concerns keeps wheat positive in the coming sessions remains to be seen. "I remind us all that it's still a grass," said Gary Sandlund of Futures International in a note, highlighting that winter wheat is a resilient crop.

Darkening View: Wall Street spent Thursday avoiding risk amid fading hopes of a quick resolution to the conflict in the Middle East. President Trump ordered the Navy to "shoot and kill" small boats putting mines in the Strait of Hormuz via a post on Truth Social today. Crude oil futures are up 2.9%, with crude oil being supportive for corn and soybeans due to their usage as renewable fuel.

Winners and Losers: While the weather outlook in wheat-growing areas is turning dryer and moving those futures up, rainfall on the eastern side of the Corn Belt is making the soil moisture for farmers in the midst of planting especially strong. "The trade sees moisture as friendly this early in the season, and the farmers [have a] proven ability to get the crop planted, regardless of how tight the planting window could be," said Brady Huck of EmpowerAg Trading. He added that quick moves could come in grains in the coming weeks.


INSIGHT


Slimmer Fit: The Buenos Aires Grain Exchange said that it sees Argentina's wheat crop in 2026/27 declining by 3% to around 6.5 million hectares--or roughly 16.1 million acres. The reduction in supply coming with signs of excessive dryness in U.S. winter wheat growing areas is giving CBOT wheat futures a boost. News of reduced Argentine acres comes after the USDA maintained its outlook for 27.9 million metric tons of production for 2025/26--more than 50% larger than the previous year's output, according to the USDA's WASDE report released earlier this month.

Doled Out: Nearly 500,000 farmers in the U.S. have been distributed $9.6 billion in bridge assistance payments by the USDA, according to data compiled by the American Farm Bureau Federation. The AFBF said that the deadline for farmers to apply for assistance was on April 17, but new strains to farmer budgets coming from the supply-chain disruption in the Middle East means that farmers may need more assistance, said the AFBF. "All nine principal row crops are forecasted to have negative returns even after accounting for federal assistance," said the AFBF. Corn has accounted for 42% of the assistance doled out, while soybeans accounted for 24%.


AHEAD


--The USDA will release its monthly Cold Storage report at 3 p.m. ET Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Friday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.


--Paulo Trevisani contributed to this article.


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


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-23-26 1508ET