US Plains HRW Wheat-Basis bids steady as wheat belt awaits more crop-boosting rains

CHICAGO, April 25 (Reuters) - Spot hard red winter (HRW) wheat basis bids held mostly steady around the southern U.S. Plains on Friday as farmer sales remained slow and futures hovered near recent lows, dealers said.

• Nearby K.C. HRW wheat futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade posted life-of-contract lows on Thursday. Low wheat prices have discouraged many growers from booking fresh sales, dealers said.

• Farms in drought-hit areas of the Plains have received welcome rains over the past week, boosting harvest prospects. Soil moisture improved in top winter wheat state Kansas, where almost three-quarters of the crop was under moderate drought as of April 22, according to U.S. Drought Monitor data. Additional rain over the next two weeks is expected to also boost soil moisture in Oklahoma and northern Texas, forecasters said.

• K.C. May hard red winter wheat futures KWK25 were unchanged near midday on Friday at $5.37-3/4 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