Chicago Board of Trade corn futures were lower around midday Wednesday, with traders evening positions before the government's acreage and stocks reports on Thursday. "With the uncertainty in the weather and all the numbers coming out, there's a little long liquidation," said Shawn McCambridge, grains analyst with Prudential Securities. Thursday is also first notice day for deliveries against the July contract.
July corn was down 2-1/2 cents at $2.16 per bushel and new-crop December was 2-1/4 cents lower $2.36-1/4 a little past noon CDT (1700 GMT)
Average trade estimate for Thursday's USDA quarterly corn stocks was 4.422 billion bushels, compared with 2.970 billion bushels a year ago. The average of trade estimates for US corn planted acreage was 82.2 million acres, up from 81.4 million estimated by USDA in March.