Corn Prices Reach for the Sky

While corn may not be reaching for the sky these days, as the drought and hot temperatures continue to hamper the crop, corn prices on the other hand are soaring, reaching another record high on Monday, settling at $8.20 a bushel, a gain of 21.5 cents, or 2.7 percent.

December corn climbed to $8.14 a bushel, gaining 20.75 cents, or 2.6 percent.

At this time a boost in rain in almost all parts of the U.S. won't help the corn crop, as pollination has been completed, and when that's the case, nothing can change the outcome of the crop yield. All that can happen is the kernels may fill out a little more, but the number of kernels are now locked in.

The hope was fields that hadn't been pollinated would be aided by rain, but that hope has largely passed for the majority of the corn crop.

With little rain expected in August, soybeans are now attracting attention as the next major crop to under go deterioration. Soybeans pollinate later than corn, so if enough rains had come, it would have boosted the yield significantly. That hope is now fading, as dry weather continues on with little chance of relief.

November soybeans jumped 41.57 cents to close at $16.435 a bushel, a gain of 2.6 percent. Along with the drought, low global soybean inventories are supporting higher prices.