CBOT soybeans slip as crush falls to 7-month low

* NOPA crush dipped to seven-month low

* U.S. weather supported corn and soy

* Wheat tour showed strong yield potential

CHICAGO, May 15 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade soybean futures ticked down on Wednesday, after the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) reported that U.S. crushing plunged in April to a seven-month low.

Corn and wheat futures also slumped on improving crop weather and strong yield potential seen during an annual U.S. wheat tour.

The most-active CBOT soybean contract was down 2-1/4 cents at $12.12-1/4 a bushel by 1:03 P.M. CDT (1803 GMT).

April's U.S. soybean crush fell to 166.034 million bushels, down 15.5% from the record 196.406 million bushels in March and down 4.2% from 173.232 million bushels in April 2023. Analysts on average expected 183.072 million bushels.

The report killed enthusiasm for soybean futures earlier in the session, said Arlan Suderman, chief commodities economist at StoneX.

"If we're crushing fewer soybeans, that means we're increasing supplies of soybeans," Suderman said.

A drier weather forecast in the U.S. Midwest that is favorable for planting weighed on corn prices, said Mike Zuzolo, president of Global Commodity Analytics & Consulting.

Mark Soderberg, chief agricultural market analyst for ADM Investor Services, added that while weekly U.S. ethanol production rose, it was below the pace needed to reach the U.S. Department of Agriculture's revised corn usage forecast. An increase in weekly ethanol stocks suggests less fuel consumption than expected, he said.

CBOT corn lost 5-1/4 cents to $4.62-1/4 a bushel, while wheat was down 7-3/4 cents at $6.64-3/4 a bushel.

In Russia, the biggest wheat exporter, consultancy Sovecon cut its forecast for the country's 2024 wheat crop to 85.7 million metric tons from 89.6 million tons.

But in the U.S., the first results of the Wheat Quality Council's tour in Kansas showed yields that are strong as expected, Zuzolo said.

Participants on the first day of the tour on Tuesday projected an average yield of 49.9 bushels per acre, the highest in three years, for hard red winter wheat in northern Kansas.

"I think the trade is probably trying to price that in, instead of worrying about Russia," said Zuzolo.

(Reporting by Renee Hickman in Chicago; Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Peter Hobson in Canberra; editing by Rod Nickel)