Corn futures on the Chicago Board of Trade closed higher on Friday as spillover strength from surging US wheat futures overshadowed bearish corn stocks and plantings figures from the US Department of Agriculture, traders said. CBOT September corn settled up 11-1/2 cents at $3.81 per bushel. For the month, front-month July corn fell 1-1/2 cents or 0.4 percent.
The USDA said US farmers planted 90.9 million acres of corn for 2017, up from its March forecast of 89.996 million and above an average of trade estimates for 89.9 million.