Corn, Wheat futures prices july 31 2012

Corn, Wheat futures prices july 31 2012 : Corn futures slipped off new highs on Tuesday on profit-taking as the worst U.S. drought in five decades was forecast to extend into August and cause more crop damage, and the market was still on target for its biggest monthly gain in more than 5 years.

Soybeans were higher and heading for their best monthly gain in over 4 years as continued hot and dry weather in the Midwest farm belt over the next two weeks could hurt the crop's critical reproductive stage of setting pods.

Wheat futures at the Chicago Board of Trade erased gains to head lower on profit-taking after the market's about 40-percent surge in prices over the past six weeks of the drought. Dry weather in southern Europe was likewise dimming crop prospects.

On Monday, livestock and poultry associations called on the government to waive the mandate that essentially requires blenders to turn more than one-third of the domestic corn crop into ethanol aimed at reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

December corn was 0.12 percent higher at $81.5 per bushel at 1336 GMT after setting a contract high of $8.20-1/2 at 1025 GMT. September was up 0.15 percent at $8.18-3/4, within sight of the record high $8.28-3/4 set on July 20.

November soybeans rose 0.7 percent to $16.55 a bushel. September wheat was down 0.4 percent at $9.10-1/2.

Corn and wheat prices have risen about 50 percent in the last six weeks and soybeans by around 20 percent as U.S. crops got scorched by heat and drought.

Analysts said large swaths of the corn crop have been damaged beyond repair by the drought over the past six weeks, with much of the crop now well past the critical development stage of pollination when yields are set.

But timely rains could help stabilize the soybean crop, which is in the pod-setting stage of development. The more pods per plant, the better the chances of increased yield.

There was fresh evidence of the high prices for U.S. corn denting demand, with a Taiwanese company buying 60,800 tonnes of the grain from Brazil, which is also believed to have supplied two livestock companies in the United States with well over 1 million tonnes of corn. ( source reuters.com )

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