CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures fell to contract lows on Friday, pressured by technical selling and abundant global grain supplies ahead of another bumper US harvest, traders and analysts said.
Soybean futures also eased, declining from Thursday's two-week high as investors awaited final data from the annual Farm Journal Midwest Crop Tour that was due after the close of trading.
Farm Journal will forecast US corn and soy production after crop scouts late on Wednesday projected lower corn yield potential in Iowa and higher in Minnesota and a decline in soybean pod counts in each state.
Wheat futures were about flat, holding above life-of-contract lows reached earlier this week.
"Pre-weekend profit-taking is the primary cause of the weakness in today's trade," MaxYield Cooperative analyst Karl Setzer said in a client note.
Some US farmers were delivering corn and soybean supplies remaining from last year to make room in grain bins for the new crop. The increased farmer selling further weighed on corn after prices climbed modestly in the previous session.
CBOT December corn was down 2 cents at $3.54-1/4 per bushel at 12:15 p.m. CDT (1715 GMT), up slightly from the earlier contract low of $3.53-1/2. Corn on a continuous chart fell to the lowest level since January and was heading for its fifth consecutive weekly decline.
"It's the end of the crop year and farmers are cleaning out bins," Advance Trading analyst Brian Basting said.
CBOT November soybeans were down 2-1/4 cents to $9.44-1/4 per bushel. Soybeans still were on pace for a narrow weekly gain, which would be the first in a month.
Traders were waiting to see if the Farm Journal forecast would run counter to the US Department of Agriculture's outlook on Aug. 10 for bigger-than-expected corn and soy harvests.
CBOT December wheat was unchanged at $4.34-1/2 per bushel, heading for a weekly decline of about 1.7 percent.
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