Chicago Board of Trade corn futures ended higher Thursday on technical buying and worries about crop weather in South America, including dry conditions stressing second-crop corn in Brazil and harvest-slowing rains in Argentina, traders said. CBOT July corn settled up 3 cents at $4.08 per bushel after reaching $4.08-1/4, its highest since August 10. Rains in the US Midwest this week should slow planting progress in some areas while also recharging soil moisture. The USDA reported export sales of US corn in the week to April 26 at 1,069,200 tonnes.