Corn rose to a six-week high in Chicago trading on concern that dry weather in South America may hurt crops. Wheat declined. “The weather remains dry in Argentina in the most important grain-growing regions,” Dennis Gartman, an economist and author of the Gartman Letter, wrote in a report today. “It remains dry, or drier than the grain bears would like it to remain, in the important grain-producing regions of Brazil.” Corn futures for March delivery rose 3.25 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $6.0525 a bushel at 4:28 a.m. on the Chicago Board of Trade. The price earlier rose to $6.065 a bushel, the highest since Nov. 9. Prices have climbed 46 percent this year. Dry weather, which has already hurt crops, will return to Argentina from Dec. 25 and persist through next week, according to a report from AccuWeather.com. Argentina is the world’s second-biggest shipper of corn and third-largest exporter of soybeans, U.S. Department of Agriculture data show. March-delivery soybeans were little changed at $13.3825 a bushel in Chicago after rising earlier today to $13.4025, the highest since Nov. 12. Prices advanced 28 percent this year. Wheat futures for March delivery fell for a second day, declining 3.25 cents, or 0.4 percent, to $7.6175 a bushel in Chicago. Prices advanced 41 percent this year. To contact the reporters on this story: Tony C. Dreibus in London at tdreibus@bloomberg.net, or Supunnabul Suwannakij in Bangkok at ssuwannakij@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net.

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