Chicago Board of Trade March wheat futures touched $4.78 a bushel, the highest since December 22, and were trading up 0.4 percent at $4.77-3/4 a bushel at 0243 GMT. Wheat rose 2 percent in the previous session, the biggest one-day gain in nearly a month. "Storms in the US have caused flooding in parts of the country which is creating concerns about grain logistics," Hannah Jansen, chief analyst at Profarmer Australia, said in a note to clients.
Heavy weekend storms caused flooding in parts of the southern US Midwest, threatening the region's soft red winter wheat, crop experts said on Monday. But Jansen said widespread crop losses were unlikely. "Whilst there is some talk of potential impacts of these storms on US winter wheat crops, whilst the crop remains under snow - and will do for some months - such talk is all speculative." Fund buying comes after weekly data from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed non-commercial traders widened their net short position in CBOT wheat in the week to December 22 by about 17,000 lots, to 105,706 contracts, the fourth-largest net short in records dating to 2006.
March soybeans rose 0.4 percent to $8.69-1/2 a bushel after closing up 0.5 percent on Tuesday. Analysts attributed the gains to a rebound from an 11-day low touched earlier in the week but gains were limited by forecasts for much-needed rainfall in Brazil's top soy state, Mato Grosso. March corn rose 0.3 percent to $3.63-1/2 a bushel after firming 0.4 percent in the previous session. Although extending gains into a second session, traders said the removal of Argentina's export duties continues to weigh on corn values. Selling by Argentinian farmers is expected to bring increased competition to the export market.