December wheat opened 6 3/4 cents lower on the day at 819 and established an early range of 801 to 821 1/4. The market opened lower and sold off early on local selling with some small fund selling also noted. Prices recovered from the early lows into mid session but remained lower on the day. Chicago wheat generally paced KC this morning and wheat lost marginally to corn in the early going. The USDA issued its Export Sales Report before open today. Net sales of wheat came in at 366,900 tonnes for the current marketing year and 25,000 for the next marketing year for a total of 391,900. As of August 21, cumulative wheat sales for the current marketing year have reached 53.5% of the USDA forecast versus a 5 year average of 39.5%. Sales of 313,000 tonnes are needed each week to reach the USDA forecast. This week's sales were once again weighted fairly heavily toward hard red wheat as world importers look for high quality and high protein to replace poor quality wheat originating in the Black Sea region. Weather remains cool and wet in the Canadian plains, which is slowing harvest progress there. Argentina received rains in its dry wheat growing areas in recent days, although the driest areas appear to have been skipped. Rains are again forecast in Australia over the next several days, and this should be especially beneficial in the east.