Chicago corn falls below $4 on beneficial weather, soy and wheat up

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Corn down on lack of weather threats, some farmer selling

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Wheat and soy tick up during choppy trade

(Adds closing prices)

By Heather Schlitz

CHICAGO, July 31 (Reuters) - Chicago December corn futures settled below $4 and hit a contract low on Wednesday as favorable U.S. crop prospects weighed and farmers began selling their hefty supplies of old crop corn, traders said.

Wheat stabilized as a poor harvest in France lent support to prices, though seasonal supply pressure from northern hemisphere harvests have continued to pressure the market.

Soy ticked up on rising crude oil prices amid increased tensions in the Middle East.

The most-active soybean contract on the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT) settled up 1-1/4 cents at $10.22-1/2 per bushel. The November soybean contract earlier set a new contract low of $10.15, hitting its lowest level on the continuous chart since September 2020.

CBOT corn ended down 5-1/4 cents at $3.99-3/4 per bushel, close to its end-June low of $3.99-1/2 that was its weakest price since November 2020.

CBOT wheat settled up 3-1/4 cents at $5.27-1/4 per bushel, though competitively priced Russian wheat and a strong U.S. crop will keep a lid on prices, traders said.

A lack of weather threats and beneficial rainy weather are expected to continue pressuring corn and soy prices. Farmers have begun selling their old crop in storage as they lose hope for higher prices and need to make room for the upcoming harvest.

"The forecast for August isn't very threatening. Conditions are good and weather looks decent, so farmer selling is occurring pretty dramatically," said Ted Seifried, strategist at Zaner Group. "Producers are throwing in the towel."

Soy oil ticked up on worries over Middle East tensions following the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran. Tensions in the oil-producing region pushed crude oil prices up 2% and also lent support to ingredients used to make biofuels. (Reporting by Heather Schlitz in Chicago; Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Mei Mei Chu in Beijing; Editing by Marguerita Choy and Will Dunham)