US Plains HRW Wheat-Basis stays mostly flat, Kansas drought worsens

CHICAGO, April 17 (Reuters) - Spot basis bids for hard red winter (HRW) wheat were mostly unchanged in the southern U.S. Plains on Thursday as concerns over dry conditions limited farmer selling, dealers said.

Farmers are unsure how much wheat they will produce after struggling with dry weather and are holding off on making advance sales of the upcoming harvest, a dealer said.

Wetter weather is expected to ease dryness in the Plains over the next 15 days, forecaster Vaisala said. The heaviest rainfall is projected to hit the southwestern and southeastern Plains, the firm noted.

Farmers are worried they may miss out on showers if the rain falls too far east, an Oklahoma dealer said.

Most of central and western Kansas has received only about one-tenth of an inch of rain in the past two weeks, industry group Kansas Wheat said in a report, adding that farmers are losing hope for the crop.

Wheat fields are losing their deep green color, with leaves turning yellow and damaged areas becoming more evident, the group said.

About 66% of Kansas, the top state for hard red winter wheat, was suffering from some form of drought as of Tuesday, up from 55% a week earlier, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

K.C. May hard red winter wheat futures KWK25 slipped 1/2 cent to close at $5.58-1/2 a bushel.

Basis values are quoted against futures in cts/bu:

NOTES:

H = March, K = May, N = July, U = September

Z = December; UNQ = Unquoted bids

0 = Sp Option price; NC = No comparison

= No. 1 12% hard winter wheat, rail bids

= Ordinary protein, rail bids

LINKS:

K.C. HRW wheat protein scales KCBT/SCA

U.S. weekly wheat crop progress US/WHE

U.S. forward basis WHEAT/BASIS

U.S. Midwest cash grain PM GRA/PM

U.S. FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F