Corn and soyabean spot basis bids were mostly steady to higher at US Midwest processors and elevators on Friday amid slow farmer selling of both crops, dealers said. Farmers retreated to the sidelines after the release on Tuesday of a US Agriculture Department report forecasting record-large corn and soyabean crops, and have remained there since as cash prices drifted lower.

Dealers have boosted bids to offset plunging futures prices but the effort has not been enough to spur many farmer sales of either crop. Soya bids on Friday rose by 5 cents per bushel at two Iowa processors while corn bids increased by 4-1/2 cents on the Illinois River.

Copyright Reuters, 2010