Corn Climbs on Forecast for Dry Weather

Corn is gaining the most in almost four months as dry weather is forecast for the Midwest.

December corn rose 22 cents, or 4.7 percent, to $4.85 a bushel Monday. That’s the biggest one-day increase since April 29.

The forecast for drier weather has helped corn prices rebound from their lowest level in almost three years. Corn has slumped this year after the government said in the spring that growers intended to plant the most corn in almost 80 years.

“We’re starting this week with a pretty dry forecast,” said Todd Hultman, a grains analyst at DTN. “So there are increasing concerns, especially in the western and northern Corn Belt, about dry conditions.”

Wheat and soybeans also rose. December wheat gained 10 cents, or 1.6 percent, to $6.54 a bushel. Soybeans rose 44 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $13.03 a bushel.

Corn has been one of the biggest decliners among agricultural products this year, dropping 31 percent since the start of the year. The price of wheat has fallen 16 percent, and soybeans have dropped 8.3 percent.

U.S. corn growers are forecast to produce a record crop of 13.8 billion bushels of corn this year, an increase of 28 percent from last year’s drought-hit crop, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Aug. 12.

In metals trading, most futures contracts fell.

December gold fell $5.30, or 0.4 percent, to $1,365.70 an ounce. Silver for September delivery dropped 15.6 cents, or 0.7 percent, to $23.17 an ounce.

Copper for September dropped 3.1 cents to $3.332 per pound. Palladium for the same month fell $10.15, or 1.3 percent, to $752.90 an ounce. Platinum for October fell $18.60, or 1.2 percent, to $1,509 an ounce.