Corn retreated a seventh day and soybeans declined as the dollar extended gains and crude oil dropped, reducing U.S.-crop appeal and eroding biofuel demand. Corn for December delivery on the Chicago Board of Trade fell 0.4 percent to $3.515 a bushel at 2:28 p.m. in Tokyo. It was the longest slide since mid-March. Soybeans for November delivery fell 0.2 percent to $9.17 a bushel. “The Chicago market was taking the lead from the dollar’s strength and weaker oil prices,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at Tokyo-based commodity broker Central Shoji Co. Corn has lost 2 percent in June and soybeans have fallen 2.2 percent, slumping for the second straight month. The euro declined to $1.2262 from $1.2277 yesterday in New York and crude oil fell 0.8 percent to $77.60 a barrel. Drier weather this week will aid most crops after recent rain, and cooler temperatures next week will help plants reproduce, Mike Tannura, president of T-Storm Weather LLC in Chicago, said yesterday. Parts of the Midwest got more than 9 inches (22 centimeters) of rain in the past two weeks, he said. About 73 percent of the corn was in good or excellent condition as of June 27, down from 75 percent a week earlier, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said yesterday in a report. An estimated 67 percent of soybeans were given the best ratings, down from 69 percent. Worsening Conditions The worsening crop conditions were limiting today’s losses, with investors “staying on the sidelines to wait for a government report for crop acreages tomorrow,” said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, general manager of research at IDO Securities Co. U.S. farmers will plant 89.252 million acres (36.119 million hectares) with corn, according to the average estimate of 14 analysts in the survey. That’s 0.5 percent more than farmers said they intended to plant in March and up 3.2 percent from 86.482 million acres in 2009. The USDA will update its crop acreage estimates and quarterly estimates for grain and oilseed stocks tomorrow. The area planted with soybeans will total 78.161 million acres, up from 78.1 million forecast in March and a 0.9 percent increase from last year’s 77.451 million, according to the survey. Farmers are wrapping up planting of the soybean crop after wet weather delayed seeding. Corn and spring-wheat seeding were completed earlier this month. Wheat for September delivery declined 0.9 percent to $4.61 a bushel, declining for the third straight day. It touched $4.595 yesterday, the lowest level since June 14, on speculation that dry conditions will allow farmers to speed up the harvest in the U.S., the biggest exporter. Approximately 38 percent of the winter-wheat crop was harvested as of June 27, up from 17 percent from a week earlier and 33 percent from a year earlier, the USDA said. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net

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