US Cash Grains-Corn, soy bids up; processors willing to pay premiums

CHICAGO, March 26 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for corn and soybeans ticked up at processors in the U.S. Midwest on Wednesday as farmer selling ground to a halt and buyers in need of grain were forced to pay premiums when making purchases from elevators, dealers said.

Spot corn bids rose at an Iowa processor and a Nebraska processor. The soybean basis ticked up at an Illinois processor.

The increases follow a multi-day uptick in basis bids.

Relatively low corn and soy prices and time-consuming spring planting preparations have made farmers unwilling to sell their crop, dealers said.

Industry players are awaiting next week's U.S. Department of Agriculture March stocks and acreage report, as well as the start of U.S. reciprocal tariffs on April 2.

Analysts estimate quarterly grain stocks for corn as of March 1, 2025, will come in at 8.151 billion bushels, which would be down 2.4% from 2024.

For soybeans, the average March 1 stocks estimate of 1.901 billion bushels would represent a three-year high, up 3% from 2024.

Chicago Board of Trade May corn futures CK25 were down 2-3/4 cents to $4.55 per bushel. May soybeans SK25 were up 2-1/4 cents to $10.04 a bushel.

Basis values are quoted against CBOT futures in cts/bu:

NOTE: 0 = Option price, UNC = Unchanged, UNQ = Unquoted

NC = Not comparable, DP = Delayed price, N/A = Not available,

F = January, H = March, K = May, N = July
Q = August, U = September, X = November, Z = December

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LINKS: 0#USCSHGRN-PM

For U.S. forward basis spreadsheets, please click:

CORN/BASIS, SOYA/BASIS, WHEAT/BASIS, MILO/BASIS

- CBOT corn report COR/

- CBOT soybean report SOY/C

- CBOT wheat report WHE/C

- U.S. grain barge freight values BG/US

- U.S. Midwest cash grain PM GRA/PM

- U.S. CIF/FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F