* Strong demand on the export market and low soil moisture in key growing areas of the Canadian prairie supported prices, traders said. * The dry soil conditions overcame pressure from forecasts for record plantings this spring. * Canadian farmers will plant a record-large 19.4 million acres of canola this year, taking advantage of attractive prices and dry conditions, according to a forecast from FarmLink Marketing Solutions. * March canola settled $5.60 higher at $573.30 per tonne, just below its intraday high of $573.80. Monday's peak was the highest price for canola on a continuous basis since reaching $576.60 on September 12. * Most-active May ended $4.20 higher at $568.40 a tonne on volume of 12,721 contracts. * Traded volume came in slightly below 25,000 contracts following a week of active trading. * The March/May spread traded 5,413 times, settling at $5 over (premium March). * CBOT soybeans settled higher for the sixth session in a row on expectations of continued Chinese demand for US supplies. * As of 1:55 p.m. CST (1955 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at $0.9989 against the US dollar or US$1.0011, off slightly from Friday's North American session close at $0.9997, or US$1.0003. * US light crude oil rose nearly 2 percent to settle at US$109.77 per barrel.