By Kirk Maltais


--Wheat for September delivery fell 1.3%, to $5.56 1/4 a bushel, on the Chicago Board of Trade on Thursday, with traders cutting risk ahead of the long weekend.

--Soybeans for November delivery were virtually unchanged, at $10.49 1/4 a bushel.

--Corn for December delivery rose 0.9%, to $4.37 1/2 a bushel.


HIGHLIGHTS


Hedging Their Bets: Wheat futures spent much of Thursday lower, with traders opting to reduce their positions ahead of the long July 4th holiday weekend. "Wheat was up early with beans and corn but fell through the day on harvest prehedge ahead of the weekend," says Charlie Sernatinger of Marex in a note. Traders are preparing both for the possibility of a surprise news event during the long weekend, as well as good weather helping winter wheat crops improve their condition.

Surprise Drop: President Trump is scheduled to speak at the Iowa State Fair Thursday night. Some grain traders placed their bets today on what he might announce during the speech. "The bulls argue that Trump would not head to the heart of America to start the Independence Day celebration if he was not going to announce something substantial," AgResource said in a note. The firm adds that instituting a nationwide ethanol blending standard of E15 is also a possibility for tonight.

The Big Kahuna: The House of Representatives passed the Big Beautiful Bill this afternoon, but its shadow loomed over the grains market throughout the day. That is in part due to the bill's provision for biofuel production requiring North American feedstocks under the 45Z program. After the U.S. trade deal with Vietnam, grain traders are also speculating that other deals will soon be announced, said Doug Bergman of RCM Alternatives in a note.


INSIGHT


Beat the Heat: The outlook for U.S. crop-growing areas is for temperatures to turn milder. Regular rainfall is expected to make a return to many growing areas within the next 4-5 days, said Daniel Flynn of Price Futures Group in a note. "If current 10-day forecasts verifies, the time for weather adversity to impact corn during key reproductive stages shrinks rapidly, and it remains that mid-summer will be marked by a quick-moving jet stream and lack of pattern stagnation."

Strong Showing: Export sales of U.S. wheat were high for the week, while corn and soybean sales landed within predictions. In its weekly export sales report Thursday, the USDA said that export sales of wheat for the week ended June 26 totaled 586,000 metric tons for the 2025/26 marketing year. Analysts surveyed by The Wall Street Journal this week forecast sales to land between 200,000 tons to 600,000 tons. Corn sales for the week totaled 1.47 million tons across the 2024/25 and 2025/26 marketing years, and soybean sales for the week landed at 701,400 tons for both marketing years. Both were within analyst forecasts.


AHEAD


--The CBOT and USDA will be closed in observance of Independence Day on Friday. Markets will reopen on Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Grain Export Inspections report at 11 a.m. ET Monday.

--The CFTC will release its weekly Commitment of Traders report at 3:30 p.m. ET Monday.

--The USDA will release its weekly Crop Progress report at 4 p.m. ET Monday.


Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

07-03-25 1529ET