GRAINS-Wheat falls after hitting six-week high on US, Russia crop worries

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures pulled back after climbing to a six-week high on Monday as worries eased about cold weather threatening U.S. and Russian crops.

Corn and soybean futures also retreated from multi-week highs.

Traders focused on the weather after a severe winter storm blasted the U.S. over the weekend. Extreme cold likely damaged winter wheat crops in most of Nebraska, along with far northwestern Kansas and northeastern Colorado, weather firm Vaisala said.

However, snow benefited winter wheat in other areas by boosting moisture levels and providing a cover to protect crops from frigid temperatures, forecasters said.

"We had more snow than we thought coming through," said Don Roose, president of U.S. Commodities.

Extensive snow cover in Russia also tempered concerns about significant damage to fields from intense cold in the world's biggest wheat-exporting country.

Most-active CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 7-1/4 cents at $5.22-1/4 a bushel as of 11:25 a.m. CST (1725 GMT) after rising earlier to the highest since December 12 at $5.33-1/4.

“Freezing temperatures, snow and ice hit much of the U.S. over the weekend, putting some winter wheat at risk,” market intelligence platform CM Navigator said in a note. “It will take time to assess the real damage.”

Soybean futures Sv1 dropped 5-1/2 cents to $10.62-1/4 a bushel after reaching the highest level since December 29.

Corn futures Cv1 fell 2-1/4 cents to $4.28-1/4 a bushel after reaching the highest level since January 12, when the U.S. Department of Agriculture issued crop data that was bearish for grain and soy prices.

The USDA's bigger-than-expected U.S. production and stocks estimates from January 12 continued to loom over the markets, analysts said.

Agribusiness consultancy AgRural also raised its estimates for Brazil's 2025/26 corn and soybean crops. Farmers in Brazil, the world's biggest soybean producer and exporter, had harvested 4.9% of their crop as of Thursday, up from 3.9% a year earlier, the firm said.