Corn futures continue drop on US planting outlook

Corn futures dropped for an eighth session, reaching their lowest price since October 2010, as mild weather improved prospects for a record crop in the U.S., according to reports. Farmers seeded 97.4 million acres of corn as of June 28, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the most since 1936, and exceeded the 95.431 million that analysts expected in a Bloomberg survey.

Corn futures dropped for an eighth session, reaching their lowest price since October 2010, as mild weather improved prospects for a record crop in the U.S., according to reports.

Farmers seeded 97.4 million acres of corn as of June 28, said the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the most since 1936, and exceeded the 95.431 million that analysts expected in a Bloomberg survey. Temperatures in the U.S. Midwest, the country's biggest growing area, will be lower through the first week of July, minimizing the risk of yield losses from excessive heat, according to DTN.

"There's no heat in the extended forecast, so the weather is no real threat to anybody," said Mark Schultz, the chief analyst at Northstar Commodity Investment Co. "The fact that we have 97 million acres of corn was a shock to everybody."

Corn futures for December delivery fell 0.7 percent to $5.0725 per bushel at 9:59 a.m. on July 1 on the Chicago Board of Trade, after touching $5.0375, the lowest for a most-active contract since Oct. 8, 2010. Prices have slumped 11 percent over eight sessions, the longest losing streak since February.

The USDA on June 12 forecast a record harvest this year of 14.005 billion bushels, up 30 percent from 2012's drought-damaged crop.

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