December wheat opened 23 cents lower on the day at 754 and established an early range of 743 3/4 to 756 1/2. Traders indicted that the lower open in wheat came largely in sympathy with sharply lower starts in soybeans and corn. The higher dollar also affected wheat although the dollar retreated from its overnight highs by mid morning. Funds were substantial sellers in corn and the soybean complex to start the day, but less so in wheat. Spreaders were also active in the wheat/corn spread again this morning, initially selling the wheat side, but starting to buy wheat during mid session according to traders. The USDA released its weekly export sales this morning, one day late due to the Labor Day holiday. Wheat sales came in at 436,600 tonnes. Cumulative wheat sales stand at 55.1% of the USDA forecast for the 08/09 season versus a 5 year average of 41.6%. Sales need to average 310,000 tonnes each week to reach the USDA forecast. Soft red sales were nearly 100,000 tonnes, outpacing hard red sales for the first time in several weeks. But the biggest sales were of hard red spring wheat which totaled 206,000 tonnes. Forecasts remain dry for most wheat growing areas of Argentina for the next 7 days. Rains have been good in recent days in northern New South Wales in Australia. That state produces about 30% of the Australian wheat crop. Elevators at the Gulf resumed load outs for export today after being closed by Hurricane Gustav.