Corn rose for a fifth day, the best winning run since December, on concern yields in parts of the U.S. will drop as wet weather delays planting from North Dakota to Ohio. Wheat climbed for a third day and soybeans gained. The July-delivery corn contract rose as much as 1.2 percent to $7.285 per bushel on the Chicago Board of Trade and was at $7.27 at 11:40 a.m. in Tokyo. The grain climbed 3.3 percent yesterday, the biggest gain since April 29. The price has more than doubled in the past year. “U.S. corn crop yields may decline following planting delays, stoking concern over tighter supplies before this year’s new crop is available,” said Toshimitsu Kawanabe, an analyst at broker Central Shoji Co. Wheat was supported by drought in parts of the U.S., China and Europe, he said. About 63 percent of the corn crop was planted as of May 15, behind the five-year average of 75 percent, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, or USDA, said on May 16. The northern Great Plains and eastern Midwest, where the pace of planting is slowest, may get more than an inch (2.5 centimeters) of rain later this week, according to Telvent DTN. Unsold supplies of U.S. corn will rise 23 percent to 900 million bushels (22.85 million metric tons) by Aug. 31, 2012, from a revised 730 million projected for this year, the lowest since 1996, the USDA said in a report on May 11. Soybeans for July delivery climbed 0.4 percent to $13.46 a bushel, extending yesterday’s 1.1 percent gain. The oilseed has risen 43 percent in the past year. Wheat Advances July-delivery wheat climbed as much as 1.3 percent to $7.7425 per bushel and traded at $7.735. The contract rose 3.7 percent yesterday, the biggest gain since May 9. The grain has jumped 65 percent in the past year on adverse weather concerns. Wheat crops in the U.S. Great Plains are showing signs that production may plunge more than the government forecast last week as hot weather and a lack of rain erode plant quality and force farmers to harvest early. As of May 15, U.S. winter wheat was in the worst condition since 1996, with 44 percent of fields rated poor or very poor by the government. The USDA forecast on May 11 that hard, red winter-wheat output will drop 25 percent to 762 million bushels, the smallest amount since 2006. The worst drought in 50 years in the central Chinese province of Hubei is slowing the planting of spring crops and limiting drinking water for half a million people, a local government agency said. The region has had the least precipitation on record since autumn, Hubei’s Department of Water Resources said in a website statement. Dry weather in northern Europe will further reduce prospects for crops, the USDA and World Agricultural Outlook Board said yesterday. Rainfall in the U.K. and Poland may boost plants and locally heavy precipitation in southern Russia will improve prospects, according to the report. To contact the reporter on this story: Jae Hur in Tokyo at jhur1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Poole at jpoole4@bloomberg.net

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