(RTTNews) - Wheat prices fell again on Wednesday and touched a two-week low. September wheat dropped to $8.03 per bushel, down 27.5 cents on the session. Prices hit as low as $8.005 a bushel in earlier trading. Wheat has not touched below $8 since Aug. 13.

The grain has been trending lower for nearly a week and has lost almost 90 cents from a seven-week best seen last week. On a long-term basis, wheat has given back more than $5 from its record high of $13.495 on Feb. 27.

Earlier this week, the USDA reported its crop progress data. 45 percent of spring wheat was rated good or better in the recent week, down from 46 percent from a week ago. Data also showed 61 percent of spring wheat has been harvested, up from 35 percent a week earlier.

In other agriculture trading, soybeans and cotton also saw strength. Soybeans added 2.4 cents to $13.40 a bushel, while cotton added 1.09 cents to 68.36 a pound. On the other hand, corn fell 2 cents to $5.732 a bushel.

Crude oil pared much of an early on Wednesday but remained moderately higher. October crude oil climbed to $117.35, up $1.08 on the session. Prices reached as high as $119.63 in the early going as Tropical Storm Gustav heads towards the Gulf of Mexico.

Gustav could turn back into a hurricane later today or tomorrow. As a hurricane, Gustav reached landfall in Haiti on Tuesday afternoon, causing killer landslides. The storm is predicted to reach the Gulf of Mexico over Labor Day weekend, leading to concerns the oil supplies from the region could be disrupted.

Traders considered the Department of Energy's mixed bag inventory report. Crude oil inventories decreased by about 170,000 barrels in the week ended Aug. 24. Analysts were expecting to see a build of about 1 million barrels. At 305.8 million barrels, U.S. crude oil inventories are in the middle of the average range for this time of year.

On the economic front Wednesday, orders for durable goods increased by much more than expected in the month of July, according to a report released by the Department of Commerce on Wednesday, with the increase reflecting strong demand for goods meant to last for at least three years.

The report showed that durable goods orders jumped 1.3 percent in July, matching a revised 1.3 percent increase in June. Economists had been expecting a much more modest increase in orders of about 0.1 percent.

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