December Corn finished down 6 at 594, 9 off the high and 6 up from the low. March Corn closed down 6 at 613 1/2. This was 4 1/2 up from the low and 8 3/4 off the high.

The corn market opened slightly lower and remained lower throughout the day despite periodic rallies in soybeans and a slightly higher close in meal. Weather has been a factor in corn this week, although traders note that the corn crop is less rain-sensitive than soybeans at this point in the growing season. Still, ideas of increased rain were said to have pressured the market yesterday. Forecasts this morning called for mostly dry weather in all but the NW corner of the Midwest. The sharply higher dollar pressured the market early according to floor traders. Reports suggested today that Ukraine's wheat crop may be only 11% milling quality this year compared to 40% last year. This is lower than the 30% figure indicated a week ago. Traders fear that the unexpectedly large supply of feed wheat will compete strongly with corn on export markets, especially due to the higher dollar. The EU is also seeing a higher than expected percentage of feed quality wheat this year. This has contributed to a very quiet export market for corn with traders saying that buyers are waiting for lower prices.

September Rice finished up 0.22 at 18.47, equal to the high and 0.27 up from the low.