March corn opened 1 1/2 cents lower on the day at 401 1/2 and established an early range of 396 to 402. Locals and funds were sellers on the open and that took prices lower into early mid session. Traders said that volume was light to moderate. Corn lost sharply to wheat in the early going as that market turned higher while corn traded lower. Traders noted that early pressure in corn came from softening export demand and expectations of rapid harvest progress across the Midwest this week. US corn is still more expensive than Brazilian corn on the world market with added competition coming from cheap feed wheat in the Black Sea Region. A higher dollar and on-and-off pressure from crude oil also added to the early pressure. Dry weather persists in Argentina and that is said to be stressing the newly planted corn crop there. Acreage is projected to be lower this year compared to last due to the high cost of inputs and the dry weather may end up further reducing planted area according to local sources. Basis levels for corn at the Gulf have been under pressure since late last week and that was true again today.