By Kirk Maltais

--Wheat for December delivery fell 1.4% to $5.38 1/4 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday, amid indications of higher Black Sea wheat supply.

--Corn for December delivery fell 1% to $3.66 a bushel.

--Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.8% to $9.91 1/2 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Black Sea Hustle: Farmers in Kazakhstan are bringing in their wheat crop quickly this year, which applied pressure to wheat futures Tuesday. Australian and Canadian wheat crops also higher than they were last year.

Press Pause: The unrelenting upward momentum for U.S. grain futures - which pushed U.S. soybean prices above $10 per bushel for the first time since early 2019 - is finally taking a breather. "Nothing has fundamentally changed, with crop ratings continuing to slide since early August, and China still in the market for US supplies with yet another daily sales announcement from the USDA this morning," said Arlan Suderman of StoneX. However, it's a much needed break for futures that have mostly traded higher for weeks, according to Suderman.

INSIGHTS

What Says Iowa?: Crops in the U.S. are maturing faster than they were at this point last year, the USDA said late Monday. In its weekly crop progress report U.S. corn was 41% mature, while 37% of U.S. soybeans have dropped their leaves - both exceeding last year's figures. Harvesting has only begun for U.S. corn, with 5% of it being harvested. The progress of the harvest is expected to be a growing focus going forward. "We will start to see more attention on actual field collected data as harvest will gain momentum over the next few weeks," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor. "When it comes to harvest the most interest will likely fall on Iowa to see if crops are as bad as indicated."

A Rebuild Season: China has been active buying U.S. exports, a trend that continued today with 132,000 metric tons of soybeans being sold there for delivery in 2020/21 marketing year. One factor that may be adding to demand for U.S. agriculture in China is the rebuilding of hog herds decimated by African swine fever. "Food waste is massive in China, where the culture prides itself in extravagant meals," explains Arlan Suderman of StoneX. "There was a whole industry created to channel this food waste to hog farms prior to ASF, but that is now illegal due to the risk of spreading ASF. That food waste must be replaced, with corn and soymeal the primary components doing the job."

Nine Month Low: Soybeans being crushed for use as oil have fallen to their lowest level in nine months, according to the latest data from the National Oilseed Processors Association. According to NOPA's latest data, soybeans crushed for August totaled 165.1 million bushels, down from 172.8 million bushels in July and 168.1 million bushels in the same month last year. Prior to the onset of Covid-19, soybean crush figures were running at a record high. "The lower than expected crush and high soybean oil stocks relative to the crush rate looks like it adds to the negative sentiment see for the overall soybean complex," said Terry Reilly of Futures International.

AHEAD:

--General Mills releases its earnings for fiscal first quarter 2021 Wednesday.

--The EIA releases its weekly update on ethanol production and inventories at 10:30 a.m. ET Wednesday.

--The USDA will release its latest weekly export sales numbers at 8:30 a.m. ET Thursday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com