Basis bids for hard red winter wheat in the US Plains were mostly steady on Friday in quiet pre-weekend dealings, with slow farmer selling supporting prices. Demand from mills was steady, but the pace of business was slow ahead of the year-end holidays. Dealers said rains forecast for parts of the US Plains could help the crop that went into winter dormancy in poor condition.

"It looks like it might be a fast-moving system and we might not get very much out of it," a Kansas dealer said. "But we'll take whatever we can get." All of top wheat state Kansas the state was in at least "severe" drought, according to a US climatology report issued on Thursday, and almost 78 percent of the state was in at least "extreme drought", the second-worst level. Kansas City Board of Trade March wheat futures were 2-1/4 cents higher at $8.65 per bushel in mid-morning trade.

Copyright Reuters, 2012