December Corn finished down 24 1/2 at 722 1/2, 9 3/4 off the high and 20 1/2 up from the low. September Corn closed down 23 1/4 at 704 1/2. This was 20 1/2 up from the low and 9 1/2 off the high.

December corn opened sharply lower and sold off in the first minutes of trade this morning. It tested the early lows again at midmorning and then firmed to moderately lower levels by early afternoon before easing again into the close. Funds were sellers of at least 10,000 contracts early according to floor traders, along with locals. This pushed the market into several rounds of commission house sell stops. Spreaders were active buyers of wheat and sellers of corn today with some selling in that spread into the close. Traders indicated that weather was more of a factor yesterday when the hot and dry forecast was changed to wet and warm than was the case today. They noted that fund selling/liquidation is a concern for traders after the sharp breaks this week, along with the potential deterioration in demand for corn-based ethanol. The G8 meeting expressed concern this week over the cost of food and the effect that bio-fuels production has had on prices, and the New York Times reports today that the EU is considering cutting back on bio-fuel mandates due to food inflation and environmental factors. The EPA will rule on the state of Texas' request for a partial waiver of its bio-fuels mandate on July 25th, and that will be closely watched by traders. In the meantime, the USDA will release its latest Supply and Demand Report this Friday, in which many traders are expecting to show some changes in demand, at least for new crop. Brazil's Agriculture Ministry cut its estimate of their corn crop to 57.5 million tonnes from its previous estimate of 58.4 million. This is still a record. Basis levels at the Gulf are mainly steady this morning, with the only feature being the reopening of the Upper Mississippi and the fact that this has erased any short term concerns over supply in the export pipeline.

September Rice finished up 0.03 at 18.07, 0.02 off the high and 0.68 up from the low.