Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures closed higher on Wednesday, extending a rebound from multi-month lows set a day earlier, as market players digested smaller-than-expected acreage estimates for the U.S. and Canada, analysts said.
Commodity funds hold a sizable net short position in CBOT wheat futures, leaving the market prone to bouts of short-covering, particularly ahead of a long holiday weekend.
U.S. markets will be closed on Friday in observance of the Independence Day holiday.
CBOT September soft red winter wheat CBOT:ZW1! settled on Wednesday up 10-3/4 cents at $6.00 per bushel, pushing through technical resistance at its 20- and 200-day moving averages.
K.C. September hard red winter wheat (KWU26) ended up 9-3/4 cents at $6.35 a bushel and Minneapolis September spring wheat (MWEU26) rose 13-1/2 cents to finish at $5.90 a bushel.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture on Tuesday estimated that U.S. farmers planted 42.7 million acres of wheat for 2026, below a range of trade expectations. The government projected total harvested wheat acres at 32.1 million acres, the lowest reading since 1877.
Statistics Canada on Tuesday estimated 2026 Canadian wheat plantings at 25.3 million acres, down 5.9% from 2025 and below a range of trade expectations.
Ahead of the USDA's weekly export sales report on Thursday, traders expected the agency to report net sales of U.S. wheat in the week ended June 25 at 300,000 to 600,000 metric tons.
Top global wheat exporter Russia cut its wheat export tax to zero, effective from July 9, the Interfax news agency reported, citing the Russian agriculture ministry. The change marks the first time the tax has been removed since its 2021 introduction.