GRAINS-US wheat futures sag on rain forecast; corn down, soy ends mixed

CHICAGO, April 14 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat futures fell on Monday, pressured by forecasts for improving weather in dry areas of the Plains production belt and spillover weakness as European wheat futures hit one-year lows, brokers said.

But a weaker dollar .DXY lent underlying support, and Wall Street equity markets firmed as the market awaited fresh tariff news. MKTS/GLOB

Corn futures fell on profit-taking after the benchmark May contract CK25 failed to match Friday's six-week high while soybean futures closed mixed.

Chicago Board of Trade May wheat WK25 settled down 8-1/4 cents at $5.47-1/2 per bushel. CBOT May corn CK25 ended down 5-1/4 cents at $4.85 a bushel and May soybeans SK25 finished down 1 cent at $10.41-3/4 a bushel.

CBOT wheat futures posted the biggest declines of the three commodities as forecasts called for much-needed rains next week in the U.S. Plains.

"The rain would slow fieldwork and potentially increase wetness in the southern Midwest and the northern Delta, but would ease dryness in the hard red winter wheat belt in the Plains," space technology company Maxar said in a client note.

Roughly 32% of the U.S. winter wheat crop was affected by drought as of April 8, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said last week, up from 15% a year ago.

After CBOT markets closed, the USDA in its weekly crop progress report rated 47% of the U.S. winter wheat crop in good to excellent condition, down from 48% a week earlier and in line with trade expectations.

The USDA said the U.S. corn crop was 4% planted, behind the five-year average of 5% and the average analyst estimate of 6%. The soybean crop was 2% planted, matching the five-year average but behind the average analyst estimate of 3%.

Ahead of monthly U.S. soybean crushing data due on Tuesday from the National Oilseed Processors Association, analysts surveyed by Reuters on average expect the trade group to report that its members crushed 197.602 million bushels of soybeans in March, up 11.1% from February and up 0.6% from March 2024.

On the export front, traders say top global soy buyer China looks closed for U.S. grain and soybean exports for the foreseeable future, but they hope negotiations can open U.S. sales to other Asian export markets following President Donald Trump's decision last week to pause many tariff increases.

China's soybean imports tumbled in March to their lowest for the month since 2008.