By Kirk Maltais

--Wheat for December delivery rose 2% to $7.56 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Friday, amid an outlook for tighter supplies world-wide and optimism for grains among fund traders.

--Corn for December delivery rose 1.1% to $5.38 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.3% to $12.20 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Supply Crunch: Wheat futures led CBOT row crops higher Friday, bouncing back from Thursday's selling. "Wheat continues to have a relatively better price outlook on tightening global supplies of exportable milling wheat," said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives. Particularly driving the uptick is a rise in Russian export taxes, traders say--with Russia being the leading seller of wheat into the export market. Adverse weather conditions in Russia and Europe are also pushing world prices higher.

Oil Slick: Soyoil futures trading on the CBOT were pulling soybeans down Friday--with the soyoil contract finishing lower for two straight sessions. This drop is putting weight on soybeans. "Profit taking in the edible oils markets following recent sharp gains led to modest weakness in soybeans," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. Soyoil is down despite the strength seen in crude oil prices Friday, with WTI light sweet crude closing 1.4% higher to over $83.60 per barrel.

INSIGHTS

Fund Frenzy: Fund traders appear to be piling into long positions in agricultural futures, said AgResource. "CBOT open interest has been rising, which is suggesting that fund managers are placing bets on long grain and soy futures," the firm said, adding that the key question for traders is if this rally will continue throughout Friday's session. The CFTC will put out its commitment of traders report this afternoon, providing some insight into fund traders' recent moves.

Weather Risks: One of the selling points for plant-based meat alternatives has been that the processes involved--extruding protein from processed crops and combining ingredients to approximate ground beef and chicken breasts--is more reliable than traditional meat production, and insulated from some of the messy complications involved with raising livestock by the millions. Beyond Meat's cut to forecasted sales Friday shows that as faux meat companies grow, they're bound to encounter some of their own problems. The company attributes part of its larger-than-anticipated decline in revenue to a Pennsylvania facility losing potable water for two weeks, and water damage to inventory due to severe weather in another location, both of which contributed to unfilled orders.

AHEAD:

--The USDA will release its weekly export inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly crop progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.

--The EIA will release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

Jacob Bunge contributed to this article.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

10-22-21 1524ET