CHICAGO: Chicago Board of Trade corn futures surged about 4% on Tuesday after the US Department of Agriculture reported smaller than-anticipated acres planted across the US Midwest.

CBOT September corn ended up 12-3/4 cents at $3.41-1/2 per bushel, after reaching $3.45-3/4, the contract's highest level since April 3.

The USDA said farmers planted 92.0 million acres of corn this spring, down about 5 million acres from its March 31 forecast of 97 million acres, the biggest March-to-June drop since 1983.

The plantings figure fell below the lowest in a range of analyst expectations.

Traders shrugged off a larger-than-expected quarterly stocks figure. The USDA reported US June 1 corn stocks at 5.224 billion bushels, topping a range of trade expectations. Brokers are monitoring US weather as the corn crop begins its key pollination phase in July.