By Rudy Ruitenberg and Jae Hur June 16 (Bloomberg) -- Wheat climbed in Chicago and Paris on concern excessive rain will reduce planting in Canada, the world’s second-largest exporter of the grain, and damaged crops in Oklahoma. Wheat for September delivery rose as much as 0.6 percent to $4.7025 a bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $4.70 a bushel at 11:46 a.m. Paris time. The price touched $4.7175 yesterday, the highest level since May 28. Farmers in western Canada are forecast to sow the fewest acres of spring wheat since 1971 because of low prices and excess rain, the Canadian Wheat Board said June 11. Oklahoma’s winter-wheat crop, the U.S.’s second-largest after Kansas, was damaged by heavy rain, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission said. “Further rain is expected in the saturated Canadian prairies, which will limit spring-wheat production, and the winter-wheat harvest in the U.S. southern plains will slow because of rain,” Luke Mathews, a commodity strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a daily note today. Milling wheat for November delivery traded on NYSE Liffe in Paris rose as much as 1.1 percent to 140.25 euros ($172.49) a metric ton, and was at 139 euros at 12:03 p.m. local time. Canada’s spring-wheat planting is expected to fall 9 percent from last year and seeding of the durum variety of the grain may drop 40 percent, according to Bruce Burnett, the CWB’s director of weather and market analysis. Oklahoma’s winter-wheat crop was damaged after 12 inches (30 centimeters) of rain fell in some areas of the state, toppling wheat plants, the state’s wheat commission said. Oklahoma Crop About 38 percent of the Oklahoma crop was collected as of June 13, up from 12 percent a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report on June 14. Farmers who have yet to harvest their grain may not get back into fields this week, the Oklahoma Wheat Commission said. Australia, the world’s fourth-largest wheat exporter, kept its forecast for the next harvest little changed, according to a government agency. Output may be 22.1 million tons in 2010-11, compared with a March estimate of 21.94 million tons, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics said today. The previous harvest was 21.66 million tons. Soybeans in Chicago and rapeseed in Paris climbed on concern the rain in Canada will cut the canola harvest there, and after oil prices jumped yesterday. Soybeans, rapeseed and canola, a rapeseed variety, are used to produce animal feed, vegetable oils and biodiesel. New York-traded crude fell 0.4 percent to $76.61 a barrel today after jumping 2.4 percent to $76.94 a barrel yesterday. Canada is the largest exporter of canola, followed by Ukraine, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture data. Canada Flooding “The news remains dominated by the flooding in Canada and as a consequence the rise of rapeseed and canola,” Paris-based farm adviser Agritel said in an online comment today. Soybeans for November delivery gained as much as 0.7 percent to $9.22 a bushel and last traded at $9.2175. The price reached $9.2625 yesterday, the highest level for a most-active contract since June 8. Paris-traded rapeseed for November delivery rose 1.4 percent to 334.25 euros a ton at 12:16 p.m. local time. Corn for December delivery climbed 0.2 percent to $3.7575. Corn futures have dropped 9.4 percent this year, in part on forecasts for higher U.S. output. To contact the reporters on this story: Rudy Ruitenberg in Paris at rruitenberg@bloomberg.net; Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net.

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