Rains seen helping U.S. soybean, corn crops, allaying supply concerns

The soaring price of commodities over the past two years has caused inflationary pressures in countries throughout the world. In the U.S., reports of coming rains drove soybean and corn prices down as experts said they would help to increase crop yields.

Bloomberg reports that 1.5 inches of rain fell from Tuesday into Wednesday in regions of South Dakota. Following a spate of hot and humid weather, the rains are a welcome relief to farmers who were increasingly concerned about the effect the arid weather would have on upcoming harvests.

Rains predicted for large swaths of the Midwest, stretching from South Dakota to the southern region of Wisconsin, as well as from eastern Kansas to southeastern Indiana, will benefit corn and soybean crops, A/C Trading Inc. president Jim Gerlach said.

"The weather still does not look to provide any major stresses to the crops in the next week to 10 days," he told the news agency.

On the Chicago Board of Trade on Wednesday, corn futures were largely unchanged, trading at $6.86 per bushel. Soybeans futures declined by 0.5 percent to trade at $1.38 per bushel.

Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, followed by soybeans.