US Plains HRW Wheat-Basis bids steady as USDA cuts crop outlook

- Spot hard red winter wheat basis bids were flat around the U.S. Plains on Thursday as futures ticked up.

  • Wheat harvesting is ongoing in Texas, Oklahoma, as well as Kansas, the nation's top producer, but some farmers have little to no grain to gather.

  • In its monthly supply and demand report, the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday cut its U.S. winter wheat crop outlook by 2% from a month earlier as a harsh drought in the Plains reduced its hard red winter wheat production to the lowest since 1957.

  • U.S. winter wheat production in the 2026/27 season was estimated at 1.030 billion bushels, down from its forecast of 1.048 billion last month and well below last year's winter crop of 1.402 billion bushels.

  • Rainy weather in parts of the U.S. Plains could delay some harvesting in spots, according to forecaster Vaisala.

  • Protein premiums for railcar HRW wheat to and through Kansas City were down 1 cent for wheat with 11% to 11.4% protein content. KCBT/SCA

  • K.C. July hard red winter wheat KWN26 settled up 4-1/4 cents at $6.34-3/4 per bushel.

Basis values are quoted against futures in cts/bu:

Current

Previous

Cash

basis

basis

price

KANSAS

Wichita

-24

+

N

-24

+

N

$6.11

Newton

-49

+

N

-49

+

N

$5.86

Goodland

-70

+

N

-70

+

N

$5.65

TEXAS

Gulf track*

+125

+

N

+125

+

N

$7.60

Galveston**

+100

+

N

+100

+

N

$7.35

OKLAHOMA

Enid

-15

+

N

-15

+

N

$6.20

Catoosa

+5

+

N

+5

+

N

$6.40

NOTES:

H = March, K = May, N = July, U = September

Z = December; UNQ = Unquoted bids

0 = Spot 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. CIF Gulf Grain GRA/C

* U.S. FOB Gulf Grain GRA/F