US wheat futures were close to unchanged on Wednesday, with the markets waiting for a good assessment of the crop damage caused by a snowstorm in Kansas during the weekend, traders said. Corn and soyabeans were slightly higher, supported by concerns that heavy rains in the Midwest and southern growing areas will force some farmers to re-plant recently seeded crops.

"Weather remains the big story in the ag markets," Farm Futures senior analyst Bryce Knorr said in a note to clients. The weekend snowstorm sparked a sharp rally in wheat prices, which surged to their highest since early March. Technical buying was lending support to all three commodities on Wednesday after prices held at key chart points despite early weakness.

At 10:28 a.m. CDT (1528 GMT), Chicago Board of Trade July soft red winter wheat futures were 1/4 cent higher at $4.54-1/4 a bushel. K.C. hard red winter wheat for July delivery was down 3/4 cent at $4.67 a bushel. CBOT July wheat found technical support at its 50-day moving average. Crop scouts on the first day of an annual three-day tour of Kansas hard red winter wheat fields projected an average yield of 43.0 bushels per acre (bpa) in the northern portion of the state, slightly above the average of the previous five years but lower than a year earlier.

"The market is awaiting to see the extent of damage for the US hard red winter wheat, but the assessment will take time," said one agricultural commodities analyst. CBOT July corn futures were 1-1/4 cents higher at $3.73-1/2 a bushel, and CBOT July soyabeans were up 3-1/2 cents at $9.72-1/4. Soyabean futures found technical support at their 30-day moving average while corn buyers stepped in when the July contract briefly dipped below its 40-day moving average.

Copyright Reuters, 2017