Corn futures fall to six-week low after U.S. farmers sped up crop planting (NYSEARCA:CORN)

Chicago corn futures closed -1.8% to a six-week low on Tuesday, pressured by a U.S. Department of Agriculture report that farmers made good progress in their delayed planting tasks during the past week, Reuters reports.

The USDA’s latest Crop Progress report said 72% of the U.S. corn crop had been seeded as of May 22, near the high end of expectations and up from 49% a week earlier, helping corn for July delivery (C_1:COM) fall $0.145 to $7.71 3/4 per bushel, after trading as low $7.62, the lowest for a most-active contract since April 11.

Other factors also are pressuring corn futures, according to Arlan Suderman of StoneX: The Biden Administration is said to be considering waivers on gasoline blending requirements, reflecting demand risks for producing ethanol, and Brazil said it signed an agreement to sell corn to China, which could limit export demand for the U.S. product.

While the USDA report showed continued delays in spring wheat planting, with only 49% planted vs. the five-year average of 83%, fund traders actively sold wheat futures on technical selling and profit taking, Joel Karlin of Western Milling told The Wall Street Journal.

CBOT July wheat (W_1:COM) settled -3% to $11.54 3/4 a bushel, its fourth losing session out of the last five, and July soybeans closed +0.4% to $16.93 a bushel; soybeans (S_1:COM) are 50% planted, compared to a five-year average of 55%, according to the USDA report.

ETFs: (NYSEARCA:CORN), (WEAT), (SOYB)

Below-normal spring wheat planting recently raised wheat futures to multimonth highs.