Corn prices slide on higher crop planting New crop corn prices to be harvested later this year fell sharply as US farmers planted the largest acreage of the commodity since 1936, despite a wet, cold spring which delayed fieldwork. Although farmers had been expected to plant record levels of both corn and soyabeans in response to last year's surge in prices brought on by the drought, there had been uncertainty over the scale of new plantings this year due to the poor weather earlier in the year which delayed planting in the fields. The latest release from the US Department of Agriculture showed that the planted area for corn totalled 97.4m acres, the highest figure since 1936 when an estimated 102m acres were planted. The number was 2m acres, or 2 per cent, higher than analysts" forecasts of around 95m acres, and up marginally from last year's 97.2m acres. The data took analysts and traders, who were expecting the planting numbers to fall rather than rise, by surprise. "US farmers love to plant corn," said Christopher Gadd, grains analyst at Macquarie in London. Although the talk of the market was that the crop insurance was expected to disincentivise farmers from further corn planting, they continued to do so, he said. Prices for the new crop lost ground, with CBOT corn for December delivery falling as much as 5.2 per cent to $5.11 a bushel before trading at $5.16½. Better weather in May and June allowed farmers to catch up on the planting, and with the forecasts suggesting favourable pollination and growing conditions, the corn harvest looked on course to deliver a record 13.9bn bushels, said analysts. The latest inventory figure for corn came at 2.76bn bushels, lower than the widely forecast number about 2.85bn. Corn for near term delivery firmed, with CBOT July corn up 0.2 per cent to $6.68½. The June stocks and plantings reports from the USDA are among the most important releases of the year for grain analysts and traders, as they provide the first field level read on crop plantings as well as an update on inventories available for consumption until the new harvest. Dan Cekander, head of grain market analysis at brokers Newedge in Chicago, said: "It's still tight on the old crop, bearish new crop." He added that he was sceptical of the planting figures due to the extensive flooding in the growing regions. Plantings for soyabeans were at 77.7m acres, slightly lower than the average forecast, while soyabean stocks stood at 434.5m bushels compared to forecasts of about 445m bushels. New crop prices weakened, with CBOT November soyabeans down 1.3 per cent to $12.58¼ a bushel while old crop soyabeans for July delivery rose 0.7 per cent to $15.59½ a bushel.