Soybean futures traded above $12.20 per bushel, holding near multi-week highs as firm demand countered only a modest improvement in US crop prospects. The Pro Farmer Crop Tour pegged US soybean yields at just 0.6 bushels per acre above the USDA’s August forecast, implying an additional 53 million bushels of production—an increase seen as too small to materially alter the overall supply outlook.
With much of the crop still needing to mature, market focus has shifted back to weather. Flooding and disease pressures in parts of the eastern Midwest are injecting fresh uncertainty into final yield outcomes and harvested acreage. On the demand side, buying interest continues to underpin prices: China and unknown destinations have booked nearly 53 million bushels of new-crop US soybeans in recent flash sales. Traders are now watching to see whether this robust export demand carries over into the new marketing year, when Chinese soybean imports typically pick up.
