U.S. Commodities: Corn, Soybeans, Wheat Rise on Supply Outlook

Corn and soybeans jumped to the highest prices since July 2008 and wheat rose after the government cut forecasts for U.S. inventories, signaling tighter food supply as demand increases and adverse weather hurts crops.

Production of corn in the U.S., the world’s largest grain exporter, dropped 4.9 percent last year and will leave supply before the 2011 harvest at the lowest in 15 years, the Department of Agriculture said today. The agency also cut its estimate of the soybean crop by 1.4 percent and said domestic wheat inventories will be 16 percent less than a year earlier.