“Prices were $.04-$.06 higher closing at about the midpoint of the days range. Spreads also firmed. Sept-26 and Dec-26 both stretched out to 3-month highs before pulling back. Dec-26 stopped just shy of its May high at $5.06 ½. The 3 districts in western Iowa covered by the Pro Farmer crop tour yesterday, found yields 4-8 bu. below YA. Two of those districts were very close to their 3-year average with 1 district coming in 6 bpa above its 3-year average. In Illinois, the tour projected yields at 184.2 bpa,, well below the 199.6 bpa from YA and the 3-year average of 199.2 bpa. Speculative traders bought 23k contracts yesterday, stretching their long position back out to nearly 260k, the largest in 3 months, probably closer to 275k after today. The speculative community is buying into the lower production, possibly higher demand narrative,” wrote Mark Soderberg with ADM Investor Services.