Commodities for Monday, Aug. 12, 1985 : Grain Futures Prices Up

Grain and soybean futures prices were mostly higher Monday on the Chicago Board of Trade, but a government report confirmed traders expectations that a bumper crop is in the fields.

Prices advanced in light trading and analysts said the dominant factor was anticipation of the Agriculture Department’s first forecast for the size of the corn and soybean crops, which was released after the close of trading.

Dale Gustafson, a grain analyst with Drexel Burnham Lambert, said early buying in the soybean pit appeared to be coming from professional speculators who were offsetting contracts they had sold in previous sessions.

The price of corn for delivery in December has fallen 30 cents a bushel and soybeans for delivery in November 80 cents a bushel since July 12, when rain began to relieve dry conditions in much of the Midwest.

Analysts said the price slide foretold bumper crops, which were confirmed in the USDA forecast for 1.96 billion bushels of soybeans and 8.27 billion bushels of corn.

Gustafson said the USDA also forecast a surplus of 65 million bushels of soybeans when the marketing year ends Sept. 30, 1986, which would be a record.