Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures rallied on Tuesday after the Department of Agriculture estimated U.S. plantings and quarterly stocks of the grain below trade expectations, analysts said.
In its annual acreage report, the USDA said U.S. farmers planted 42.740 million acres of wheat this year, down from 45.328 million last year and well below the average trade estimate for 43.858 million acres. The estimate reflected declines in both winter wheat and spring wheat seedings.
In a quarterly report, the USDA said June 1 wheat stocks totaled 920 million bushels, below the average analyst estimate of 934 million.
Swift harvest progress in the U.S., along with strong production prospects in the Black Sea export region, has weighed on the wheat market, taking attention away from a severe heatwave in Western Europe over the past week.
U.S. exporters sold 100,000 metric tons of hard red spring wheat to Nigeria for 2026/27 delivery, the USDA reported on Tuesday.
CBOT's most active September SRW wheat (WU26) contract ended 9-1/2 cents higher at $5.89-1/4 a bushel after falling to its lowest point since February 19 early in the session.
K.C. September hard red winter wheat (KWU26) last traded 8 cents higher at $6.22-3/4 per bushel. Minneapolis September spring wheat (MWEU26) was 4-1/2 cents higher at $6.06-1/2 a bushel.