Investing.com - U.S. corn futures fell to a four-month low on Tuesday, amid ongoing optimism over the health of the U.S. corn crop.
On the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, U.S. corn for September delivery hit a daily low of $4.3513 a bushel, the weakest level since February 4, before paring losses to last trade at $4.3688 during U.S. morning hours, down 0.36%, or 1.57 cents.
The September corn contract lost 2.06%, or 9.2 cents, on Monday to settle at $4.3900 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture said that nearly 74% of the U.S. corn crop was rated “good” to “excellent” as of June 22.
Prices of the grain came under further pressure as rains across key growing regions added to expectations of a bumper U.S. corn crop. The USDA forecast a record-high U.S. corn crop of 13.935 billion bushels this season.
Meanwhile, U.S. wheat for September delivery declined 0.58%, or 3.4 cents, to trade at $5.8500 a bushel.
Wheat ended Monday’s session down 0.72%, or 4.2 cents, to settle at $5.8900 after the USDA pegged the rate of harvest above market expectations.
Nearly 33% of the U.S. winter wheat crop was harvested as of last week, up from 16% in the preceding week and above the five-year average of 31% for this time of year.
Elsewhere on the CBOT, U.S. soybeans for August delivery shed 0.56, or 7.7 cents, to trade at $13.5750 a bushel as the USDA pegged the condition of the crop above market expectations.
Approximately 62% of the U.S. soy crop was rated “good” to “excellent” as of last week, while 95% of the crop was planted.
Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, followed by soybeans, government figures show. Wheat was fourth, behind hay.