By Kirk Maltais

-- Corn for July delivery rose 1.1% to $6.80 3/4 a bushel, its highest close since July 2013 on the Chicago Board of Trade, with trader interest in corn futures continuing as Brazil's second corn crop suffers from dry weather conditions.

-- Soybeans for July delivery fell 0.5% to $15.28 a bushel.

-- Wheat for July delivery fell 1.9% to $7.21 a bushel.

HIGHLIGHTS

Bone Dry: Weather in Brazil continues to hamper the development of the country's second corn crop, which in turn pushed U.S. corn futures higher.

"Private Brazilian corn crop estimates continue to erode based on warm/arid weather conditions with some 50% of the Parana and Mato Grosso do Sul corn crop now in pollination," AgResource said. "The loss of 13-16 million metric tons of Brazilian corn is massive in a world marketplace that is short of feed."

Food for Fuel: Most-active soyoil futures were volatile Monday, finishing 1.1% higher after trading lower for much of the day. The volatility stems from a back-and-forth between the optimism markets have about soyoil as a biofuel and profit-taking by traders.

"Soybean oil reminds me a little bit of corn back when the [renewable fuel standard program] was instituted in 2007," said Craig Turner of Daniels Trading. "We used to think about 'food for fuel' as corn for ethanol in the U.S. When you think about it globally 'food for fuel' is also vegetable oil for biodiesel."

INSIGHTS

The Outer Limits: The CME officially expanded price limits for grains starting Monday. The new daily limits for grain futures are 40 cents per bushel for corn, $1 per bushel for soybeans and 45 cents per bushel for wheat.

"These increases open the door for even more market volatility and the potential for greater price swings, especially when combined with elevated position limits as well," said Karl Setzer of AgriVisor.

Fast Forward: Rapid planting is expected to show up in this week's crop progress report from the USDA, said Tomm Pfitzenmaier of Summit Commodity Brokerage.

"May even be [a] record this week with the seed going into nearly ideal soil conditions," said Mr. Pfitzenmaier.

Seventeen percent of the U.S. corn crop was planted as of last week's report, while 8% of soybeans were planted and 28% of spring wheat was sown.

Crop-growing areas of the U.S. benefited from scattered showers over the weekend, with more rainfall seen in the early half of this week, according to DTN.

AHEAD:

-- The EIA is scheduled to release its weekly ethanol production and stocks report at 10:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday.

-- The USDA is due to release its weekly export sales report at 8:30 a.m. EDT Thursday.

-- The CFTC is scheduled to release its weekly commitments of traders report at 3:30 p.m. EDT Friday.

Write to Kirk Maltais at kirk.maltais@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

05-03-21 1547ET