Corn May Extend Slide, Soybeans Fall on U.S. Sales, Brazil Crop

(Bloomberg) – Corn may drop for a fifth straight session and soybeans may slide on speculation that the highest prices ever will encourage U.S. farmers to step up sales while encouraging South America growers to plant more.

Combined soybean output in Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay,Bolivia and Uruguay may rise 31 percent next year from the previous season, Hamburg-based researcher Oil World said today in a report. Corn futures through yesterday surged 58 percent inChicago since June 15, while soybeans jumped 31 percent.

“U.S. farmers are looking at the highest prices ever at harvest, and they will sell as much as possible this year,”Chad Henderson, a market analyst at Prime Agricultural Consultants Inc. in Brookfield, Wisconsin, said in a telephone interview. “South American farmers are going to plant as many soybeans as early as possible and plan to follow it with a second crop of corn this year.”

Corn futures for December delivery were unchanged at $8.0075 a bushel at 10:32 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade, after dropping as much as 0.7 percent. A decline today would be the fifth straight and the longest slump since June 2011. The most-active contract touched a record $8.49 on Aug. 10 after the government said production would fall 13 percent this year to the lowest since 2008.

Soybean futures for November delivery declined 0.5 cent to $17.1825 a bushel in Chicago. Yesterday, the price reached $17.605, the highest ever.

Corn is the biggest U.S. crop, valued at $76.5 billion in 2011, followed by soybeans at $35.8 billion, government figures show.

To contact the reporter on this story:Jeff Wilson in Chicago at jwilson29@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Steve Stroth at sstroth@bloomberg.net