July corn traded 2 1/4 cents higher overnight. Outside markets were not a factor overnight.

After seeing late-session selling pressure on Monday and Tuesday, corn moved higher yesterday and again overnight. Forecasts have become a bit wetter since yesterday, with more rain now forecast for the central and eastern Corn Belt this weekend and another major system expected starting Wednesday of next week. Cash markets remain quiet with light farmer selling, and the tender calendar is mostly empty except for Turkey's tender for 150,000 tonnes. Many traders are said to be evening up ahead of Friday's Supply and Demand Report, with the market's focus now shifting to new crop and the likely sharp drawdown in corn stocks over the course of the next marketing year. There is a growing sense that planting delays will prevent corn from gaining substantial additional acres from soybeans, despite the higher profitability-per-acre for corn. There is also growing concern that continued planting delays will make it very difficult for the average yield in 2008 to be at trend line levels or higher. Traders already see ending stocks being cut by near 50% this year due to strong demand and lower planted area for the report for release tomorrow morning. If US producers are unable to add to the intentions to plant just 86 million acres due to wet weather and if yield happens to come in at last year's level of 151.1 bushels per acre, US corn production would come in near 11.9 billion bushels as compared with total usage for the 2007/08 season at 13.11 billion bushels. Deliveries against the May contract were 406 contracts in corn today.

Weather has been as wet or wetter than expected from the rain system that is currently moving through the Corn Belt. It dumped substantial amounts in Missouri, central and southern Illinois and Indiana overnight and this morning. This system should last into Friday in the eastern Corn Belt. Yesterday, weather forecasts seemed to be calling for less rain this weekend and into early next week, but totals are now on the rise. Sunday should see rains in an area bordered on the west by eastern Minnesota and Iowa and the entire Mississippi Valley and extending through the eastern Corn Belt. On Tuesday and Wednesday, another system is expected to move into the western and central Corn Belt. The 2-week outlook is for wetter than normal in all but the extreme western and southwestern Corn Belt, along with below normal temperatures for much of that period. Planting delays remain a major issue. Turkey is tendering for 150,000 tonnes of corn.

Weekly export sales for corn, released before the open, came in at 337,200 metric tonnes for the current marketing year and 63,300 for the next marketing year for a total of 400,500.