July 17 (Bloomberg) -- Corn dropped for the second time in three days and soybeans declined as more rain is forecast for U.S. fields next week, boosting crop prospects. Wheat was little changed.
Wet weather is forecast for central and eastern growing areas in the next six to 10 days, according to MDA Weather Services. About 16 percent of corn was at the silking stage as of July 14, behind a five-year average of 35 percent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said July 15. Silking is part of the plant pollination stage, when drought and high temperatures can hurt yields.
“The chances of rain improved, especially in the eastern Corn Belt, and that’s weighing on prices,” Brian Hoops, the president of Midwest Market Solutions in Springfield, Missouri, said by telephone. “We need to have some good growing conditions, and we’re starting to see that.”
Corn futures for December delivery fell 1.3 percent to $5.04 a bushel at 10:19 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The contract was down 15 percent this year through yesterday.
Soybean futures for November delivery slid 0.3 percent to $12.82 a bushel, heading for the first decline this week.
Wheat futures for September delivery declined less than 0.1 percent to $6.6925 a bushel in Chicago. Through yesterday, the most-active contract dropped 14 percent this year on prospects for global harvests to climb to a record.
--With assistance from Whitney McFerron in London and Luzi Ann Javier in Singapore. Editors: Millie Munshi, Patrick McKiernan
To contact the reporter on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in Chicago at tdreibus@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net
