By Andrew Johnson Jr
    Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 
 
   CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Soybean futures at the Chicago Board of Trade
 backpedaled Monday, retreating amid less threatening weather for Midwest crops
 and positioning ahead of Wednesday's crop reports.
 
   CBOT August soybeans ended 14 cents lower at $11.70 1/2, and November
 soybeans finished 28 1/2 cents lower at $10.10. In pit trades, speculative fund
 selling was estimated at 4,000 lots in soybeans and 1,000 lots in soymeal.
 
   December soymeal ended $13.30 lower at $305.70. December soyoil finished 29
 points lower at 37.20 cents a pound.
 
   Last week, the market rallied sharply on threatening weather forecasts for
 central U.S. crops, but forecasts now call for more normal August weather
 conditions moving forward, said Brian Hoops, president Midwest Market
 Solutions.
 
   The change in weather opened the door for traders to trim some risk premium
 from prices in conjunction with profit-taking ahead of Wednesday's crop
 reports, Hoops said.
 
   The unwinding of soybeans versus corn and wheat spreads was featured as well,
 with traders reducing risk exposure in the event of a surprise in the U.S.
 Department of Agriculture's production and supply-and-demand forecasts.
 
   The absence of outside market leadership kept attention on weather, but
 strength in the U.S. dollar and lower-than-expected export inspections added to
 the defensive theme, said Mike Zuzolo of Global Commodity Analytics &
 Consulting LLC.
 
   Cropcast Weather Services said notable rainfall returned to northern crop
 areas of the Midwest in the past weekend, helping to significantly ease
 lingering dryness. Rainfall is expected to cross central and southern portions
 of the region over the next two days, helping to maintain favorable moisture in
 those areas for late soybean growth, Cropcast forecasts.
 
   Temperatures should warm again during the six-to-10-day period, further
 accelerating crop growth, with no major heat foreseen at this time, Cropcast
 reports.
 
   The USDA will release its weekly crop-progress report at 4 p.m. EDT (2000
 GMT) Monday. Analysts anticipate the percentage of soybean crops rated good to
 excellent to decline by 1 to 2 percentage points from the previous week.
 
   The USDA is scheduled to release its first 2009 crop-production estimates
 based on field surveys and its monthly supply-and-demand estimates Wednesday at
 8:30 a.m. EDT (1230 GMT).
 
   The average of analysts' estimates projects a crop size of 3.213 billion
 bushels with a yield of 42.1 bushels per acre. The averages ranged from 3
 billion to 3.275 billion bushels for production and 40.9 to 43.5 for yield.
 
    SOY PRODUCTS
 
 
   Soy product futures prices fell in unison with soybeans. Soymeal futures
 dropped more than 4% of their value Monday while losing product share to soyoil
 on adjustments in meal/oil spread relationships, analysts said. Less
 threatening weather for U.S. soybeans and a firmer U.S. dollar served as
 catalysts to firmly plant futures in negative territory.
 
   Soyoil futures ended lower, but gained versus meal on spreads. Weakness in
 crude oil futures, a firmer U.S. dollar and ample supplies kept pressure on
 prices, traders said.
 
   December oil share was 37.81%, while the November/December soybean crush
 ended at 71 3/4 cents.