By Kirk Maltais

-- Wheat for September delivery rose 2.2% to $5.42 1/2 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade on Monday, as hot weather in Europe stands to hurt crop competing against U.S. wheat.

-- Corn for July delivery rose 1% to $4.46 3/4 a bushel.

-- Soybeans for July delivery rose 0.7% to $9.09 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Busy Week: Traders were busy positioning themselves Monday ahead of the crop conditions/progress report, Friday's crop acreage report, and the G20 Summit in Japan this week, where President Trump and Chinese President Xi planned to meet to restart trade deal negotiations. Although the market is hopeful for some resolution to come out of the meeting, few traders believe that will be the case.

In the meantime, the USDA report will likely inform grain futures movement.

Heat Wave: The hot and dry weather hitting Europe is expected to impact eastern European and Black Sea wheat crops, good news for U.S. wheat growers who have had difficulty competing with other global sources. Paris expects temperatures as hot as 100 degrees Fahrenheit on Wednesday and Thursday, according to AccuWeather.

The unseasonable warmness is expected to stretch into the major wheat-growing areas, impacting the health of those crops.

INSIGHT

Weak Statistics: Although grains traders are keenly watching Friday's planted acreage estimate from the USDA, what will be reported may not be as helpful for traders making decisions as some people might believe.

"This report is based on farmer's planting intentions on June 1st," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage. "As we all know, the intentions on June 1st were not anything like what actually happened in June, so these USDA numbers will need to be taken with a grain of salt." Exceedingly wet conditions put a deeper cut on crops planted in June.

Inspections on Par: Inspections of grains for export met trader forecasts this week, although generally staying on the low end of predicted ranges.

Wheat inspections totaled 406,386 metric tons, corn totaled 617,740 tons and soybeans totaled 682,155 tons.

The most notable statistic reported by the USDA Monday is that over 500,000 tons of soybeans destined for China were inspected, a strong figure considering the tariffs levied on exports by both nations.

Corn-Cattle Connection: Corn futures are expected to have a robust week. For cattle, this is generally considered bearish as a good week for corn means higher feed costs for livestock.

However, this may only be a short-term trend, Steiner Consulting Group said.

"For cattle there are more considerations," said Steiner, explaining feedlots tend to adapt to higher feed costs by waiting for heavier and more mature animals to put on feed. The delay may allow cattle to be more insulated from corn price movement, also limiting the amount of beef hitting the market.

AHEAD

-- General Mills Inc. is scheduled to release its latest quarterly earnings report before the stock market opens Wednesday.

-- The EIA is due to release its weekly update on ethanol production and inventories at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

-- Conagra Brands is scheduled to release its latest quarterly earnings report before the market opens Thursday.

-- The USDA is due to release its latest weekly export sales numbers at 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.

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

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 24, 2019 15:35 ET (19:35 GMT)