Soybeans surged to a record for a second straight day Wednesday on concerns that flood-battered Midwest crops may produce lower yields, straining supplies at a time of booming world demand, according to AP. Other commodities traded mostly higher, with crude oil gaining $2 a barrel and gold, silver, copper and agriculture futures all rising. U.S. farmers plan to harvest 96.8 percent of this year's 74.5 million acre soybean crop, down from an estimate of 98.7 percent that was calculated before severe floods struck the Midwest last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in its annual acreage survey released Monday. Nationwide, farmers said only 70 percent of the intended soybean crop had been planted at the time of the U.S.D.A. survey interview, the lowest level in 12 years.
