Corn futures tumbled more than 3% Wednesday to their lowest level since March, on speculation that wet weather in the Midwest has helped corn's growth and as a stronger U.S. dollar made dollar-denominated corn cheaper.
Corn for December delivery was down 19 cents, or 3.5%, to $5.26 a bushel in midday action on the Chicago Board of Trade, the lowest since March 21. The contract is now 34% lower than its record high near $8 a bushel hit in late June.
There were storms in Iowa and other Midwest states bringing rains and cool weather to the area, and this pattern could continue, according to Accuweather.com. Below-normal temperatures are helpful to corn growth....MORE
Now, just so we don't get an early freeze, comments about which are already showing up in print.
From Cattle Network:
...Lack of stress on the growing crops, due to abundant subsoil moisture, adequate rainfall, and moderate summertime temperatures, has helped crop condition ratings to improve week-by-week. Long range weather forecasts indicate favorable crop growing conditions into early August. It looks as if we are dodging the bullet of excessive July heat damaging late pollinating corn. National average yield may be higher than the USDA early July projection. Even though soybeans have also benefited from the mild summer, the jury is still out on yield. Late planting is translating into late soybean blooming in the major growing states. An early frost; even normal frost dates across the Northern Corn Belt, could abruptly stop production in the affected areas before the soybean crop has reached full yield potential.
From DTN Meteorlogix via Dow Jones, Aug 4:
...Conditions also are generally favorable for spring wheat on the Canadian prairies, Meteorlogix said. However, crop development is behind normal in most areas, which is "a concern if an early freeze occurs during the latter half of August," the firm said....
