1.   But some traders were surprised by the stronger tone given progress made recently in soybean plantings.

2.   Contributing to price increases today was speculation that some private forecasters may lower their estimates of soybean plantings for this year.

3.   Last year, soybean plantings swelled because heavy spring rains drowned corn crops.

4.   Last year, soybean plantings swelled after heavy spring rains drowned corn crops.

5.   The additional soybean plantings appeared to come at the expense of corn and cotton.

6.   While rain has also delayed soybean plantings, there is still ample time for the plants to grow without losing their expected yield to a shortened growing season.

7.   A private forecaster predicted record U.S. soybean plantings this year.

8.   Record U.S. soybean plantings this year still came in lower than expected, and that helped spur the big rally in soybean futures.

9.   Private estimates for record U.S. soybean plantings were offset by mixed forecasts for key growing regions in South America.

10.   Soybean plantings were slightly above expectations, but prices were buoyed by a surprisingly low inventories.