GRAINS-Chicago wheat falls on dollar strength as Trump-Zelenskiy call results awaited

By Renee Hickman

CHICAGO March 19 (Reuters) - Chicago wheat futures fell on Wednesday as the U.S. dollar gained strength and investors awaited the outcome of a call between U.S. President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, according to analysts.

Meanwhile corn firmed with a new import quota in Turkey, and soybeans fell as the harvest wrapped up in soybean-producing regions of South America.

The most-active wheat contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) Wv1 fell 3 cents to $5.62 a bushel by 12:27 p.m. CST (1727 GMT).

The dollar rose on Wednesday, bouncing back from multi-month lows as traders eyed the Federal Reserve's meeting later in the day for clues to the path of U.S. interest rates.

A strong dollar tends to make U.S. exports less competitive to holders of other currencies.

Traders also monitored the results of a call between the leaders of the U.S. and Ukraine regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine. An end to hostilities would be bearish news for wheat futures as it would create more security for Black Sea exports.

And, said Randy Place, analyst with the Hightower Report, snow forecast in parts of the U.S. wheat belt could add necessary precipitation to the drought-struck region, pressuring K.C. wheat futures in particular.

In soybeans, the harvest is wrapping up in Brazil's Matto Grosso state, with 97% of the soybean crop harvested as light rains fall, ahead of the five-year average of 93%, according to Maxar.

Turkey's government has announced a 1 million metric ton import quota for animal feed corn, the trade ministry said in the Turkish official gazette on Wednesday. The potential upside for corn prices, however, continued to be limited by expectations of higher U.S. planting this year.

Corn Cv1 rose 2-1/2 cents a bushel to $4.61-1/4 while soybeans Sv1 were down 5-1/4 cents at $10.07-1/2 a bushel.

S&P Global Commodity Insights projected on Tuesday that U.S. farmers would plant 94.3 million acres of corn in 2025, up 800,000 acres from its previous forecast released on Jan. 21.

Place said such projections were not unexpected but, "highlight that the bean-corn relationship favors corn."