By Kirk Maltais

--Corn for July delivery rose 2% to $4.50 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, with traders coming back to take long positions on corn after yesterday's weakness.

--Soybeans for July delivery rose 1.4% to $9.15 1/2 a bushel.

--Wheat for July delivery rose 0.9% to $5.26 3 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Waterworld: Precipitation continues to exacerbate Midwestern farmers' inability to plant crops this week--putting the squeeze on available corn supply as well as soybeans. Because of the weather markets' continued presence, agricultural futures across the board recorded upticks as traders reportedly gathered to take long positions on grains, in lieu of any long positions on livestock.

New Highs Near: After July options for grains futures on the CBOT expire on Friday, some traders expect that futures will push higher on the back of wet weather continuing to slow planting--with final planting dates for soybeans coming at the end of the month in many areas. "In 46 years in the business I have never seen worse weather to plant and grow soybeans and corn," said Mark Gold of Top Third Ag Marketing. "Once the options expire Friday, I would expect the corn and soybean market to make new highs next week."

INSIGHT

Tyson Bets on Plants: Compared to plant-based foods specialists Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, which have been developing beef and pork alternatives for years, meat giant Tyson Foods is a relative newcomer as it launches its own plant-based nuggets later this summer. However, Tyson's head of alternatives proteins Justin Whitmore thinks the company has an edge: "Brands matter in this space," Whitmore said in an investor presentation. Tyson's existing brands, like Jimmy Dean, Ball Park and Hillshire Farms, are distributed across 95% of U.S. food retailers, and awareness of its brands are 1.4 times higher than the average, says Chief Marketing Officer Noelle O'Mara.

Exports Weak: Grain export sales again were weak, with wheat sales particularly clocking in at the low end of analyst and trader expectations. Wheat sales totaled 187,600 metric tons for the 2019/20 marketing year, which included more than 150,000 tons of sales reductions. Corn and soybean sales came in higher, with soybeans sales totaling 771,500 tons--higher than analyst estimates. Absent were much in the way of sales to China, something that the market was watching closely for, said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor.

Early Field Recovery: The USDA says that it will allow farmers to work cover crops planted on acres of farmland previously declared as prevented planting acres earlier this year, in an effort to help farmers service land damaged by flooding and excessive moisture this year. Farmers may now begin haying, grazing, or chopping these fields on September 1, two months ahead of the usual date.

 
AHEAD

--The USDA will issue its monthly Cattle on Feed report at 3:00 p.m. EDT Friday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly commitment of traders report at 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 20, 2019 15:22 ET (19:22 GMT)

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