Soybeans hit 7-week low, corn down on dry Midwest harvest weather outlook

By Karl Plume

CHICAGO, Oct 16 (Reuters) - US soybean futures dropped to a seven-week low on Friday while corn futures neared a two-month low as dry Midwest weather expected over the coming week was likely to fuel rapid harvesting progress.

Wheat futures slid to a two-month low, on track for a seventh straight weekly drop, as favorable winter crop planting weather in the Plains pressured prices.

Technical selling and long liquidation ahead of the weekend pressured crop markets despite field work delays in many areas this week due to widespread rains.

"Rain should linger in the northeastern Midwest and far southern Plains today, but drier weather is expected in all areas this weekend and early next week. This will favor corn and soybean harvesting as well as winter wheat planting," meteorologists with Vaisala said in a note.

Chicago Board of Trade November soybeans were down 3-1/4 cents at $12.59-3/4 a bushel at 12:40 p.m. CDT (1740 GMT) after earlier sinking to the lowest point since August 27. The benchmark contract was on pace for a 2.5% weekly drop despite renewed demand from top importer China.

The US Department of Agriculture on Friday confirmed private sales totalling 558,000 metric tons of US soybeans to China, bringing the confirmed sales total to China to 1.358 million tons over the past three days.

December corn fell 4 cents to $4.74 a bushel after dropping to within 3 cents of a two-month low posted last week when the USDA unexpectedly raised its US harvest forecast. The contract was down about 1% for the week, on pace for a third straight weekly decline.

CBOT December wheat slid to $6.59 a bushel, down 11 cents on the day. The contract, down about 1.8% in the week, has not posted a weekly gain since late August despite concerns about Russian and Ukrainian supplies amid continued attacks on ships in the Black Sea.