* U.S. wheat down after 6-day rally, rains expected in Russia * U.S. corn, soy farmers plant in record time * European wheat down, follows U.S. market (Adds European market, updates prices) By Naveen Thukral and Svetlana Kovalyova SINGAPORE/MILAN, May 22 (Reuters) - U.S. wheat fell on Tuesday coming off an 8-1/2 month high hit in the previous session as rains expected in Russia's drought-stricken breadbasket regions cooled off the market after a six-day rally sparked by dryness in the United States and Russia. Corn and soybeans eased tracking the decline in wheat values. "The rally has certainly priced wheat out of the feed rations, also the market will be looking for the extent of losses in the Black Sea region and Europe before another run," said Brett Cooper, a senior manager of markets at FCStone Australia. "The market is looking for rains over the recently planted U.S. bean crop." Chicago Board of Trade wheat futures have been closely following the corn market in the past year as livestock producers replaced expensive corn with wheat in animal rations. But that trend could be changing with the spread between front-month wheat and corn contracts widening to its highest since March 2011 on Monday. On Tuesday, CBOT July wheat fell 2.17 percent to 6.88-3/4 a bushel by 1037 GMT, after rising to its highest since Sept. 7 on a continuation chart in the last session. July corn fell 0.99 percent to $6.26-3/4 a bushel, while soybean eased 0.32 percent to $14.08 per bushel. "News of rains in Russia have pushed the prices lower, but it remains to be seen if these rains could change the situation there," said one Italian trader. Rains are due in some of Russia's drought stricken southern agricultural regions in the coming days, but hot dry weather will persist in south central European Russia and the southern Volga valley, the state forecaster said on Tuesday. In Europe, benchmark November milling contract fell two euros or 0.92 percent to 214.50 euros a tonne. "Yesterday we again hit a new resistance and today people are pausing for thought," said Gautier Le Molgat, analyst at agriultural consultancy Agritel. Prices should remain below the resistance at 218 euros on the November contract unless there were fresh news of dry weather in key producing regions, he said. Although temperatures were expected to cool down from tomorrow onwards in Russia, Le Molgat did not expect a strong correction. The market noted decline in wheat ratings in key U.S. areas, including Kansas, according to a weekly report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Wheat in Kansas, the largest U.S. wheat producing area, deteriorated this past week by the biggest ratings margin in 4-1/2 years as dry weather continued to grip the state, government data showed on Monday. The USDA rated 43 percent of the Kansas crop good to excellent as of Sunday, down 9 percentage points from the previous week and the steepest ratings decline since November 2007. "I guess the market has done enough work for the time being, particularly for wheat," said Cooper. "It shouldn't be a surprise to people that a bit of pull back has occurred." The U.S. Plains hard red winter wheat region will see "very limited rainfall for the next week to 10 days", said John Dee, meteorologist for Global Weather Monitoring. High temperatures are expected to reach the 80s Fahrenheit (F) to low 90s F in the U.S. crop belt over the next week or two. CORN, SOYBEANS PLANTED IN RECORD TIME U.S. farmers planted corn and soybeans in record time last week as they took advantage of the warm, dry weather throughout the U.S. Midwest, the USDA report showed. That progress puts farmers within striking distance of finishing all their planting tasks this week, particularly since dry weather is forecast to continue for much of the region. Showers are expected in northwestern areas of the Corn Belt. Farmers had planted 96 percent of the corn and 76 percent of the soybeans as of Sunday. Those paces topped analysts forecasts, which had corn plantings at 95 percent finished, up from 87 percent last week, and soybean plantings at 68 percent, up from 46 percent a week ago. In its first report on the condition of the corn crop, the USDA also on Monday rated the corn crop 77 percent good to excellent. Analysts, on average expected 70 percent good to excellent, according to a Reuters poll. Heat forecast for the U.S. Midwest could stress the newly seeded crop, particularly in southern areas where some corn was close to its key pollination phase, traders said. * Prices as of 1030 GMT Product Last Change Pct Move End 2011 Ytd Pct Paris wheat 214.50 -2.00 -0.92 195.25 9.86 London wheat 159.00 -1.45 -0.90 153.65 3.48 Paris maize 208.25 -2.75 -1.30 197.25 5.58 Paris rape 467.50 -1.50 -0.32 421.50 10.91 CBOT wheat 689.25 -14.75 -2.10 671.25 2.68 CBOT corn 628.25 -4.75 -0.75 654.75 -4.05 CBOT soybeans 1408.50 -4.00 -0.28 1207.75 16.62 Crude oil 92.00 -0.57 -0.62 98.83 -6.91 Euro/dlr 1.27 -0.01 -0.52 1.30 -1.62 * All grain and oilseed prices for second position. Paris futures prices in Euros per tonne, London wheat in pounds per tonne and CBOT in cents per bushel.

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