* Hot, dry spell adds to U.S. corn worries after spring deluge
* Wheat, corn, soy all down after strong opens (Adds closing prices, USDA crop condition ratings)
CHICAGO - Chicago Board of Trade grain futures settled down on Monday after corn touched a five-year high and soybeans reached a one-year peak, as forecasts for rain in U.S. crop-growing areas eased concerns about hot, dry weather.
A recent warm, dry spell had fueled worries that corn could be damaged during crucial pollination stages, after unprecedented delays in planting this spring.
But in the Corn Belt, rain associated with the remains of former Tropical Storm Barry is edging into southern parts of Illinois and Missouri, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a daily weather report.
The USDA separately said in a weekly report that 58% of the corn crop is good to excellent, up from expectations that the rating would be down one percentage point, at 56%.
September corn futures on the CBOT settled down 13-1/2 cents, or 2.8% at $4.41 a bushel. The most actively traded contract earlier hit $4.64-3/4, the highest level since June 2014 on a continuation chart.
But the most-active contract stayed below contract highs of last month on individual September and December delivery positions.
Traders remain uncertain about the size of the upcoming harvest. Mike Zuzolo with Global Commodity Analytics said he expected corn ratings to decline in next week’s USDA condition report.
“Corn is already looking a little stressed,” he said.
Traders largely shrugged off the USDA’s forecast for U.S. corn production in its monthly supply and demand report on July 11, holding out for a follow-up survey of plantings by the agency after its previous acreage estimates were viewed as too high for corn and too low for soybeans.
September CBOT wheat futures settled down 15-1/4 cents, or 2.7% at $5.07-3/4 a bushel after earlier touching their highest level in more than two weeks at $5.31-1/2.
Good to excellent spring wheat crops were down 2 percentage points, at 76%, from 78%.
August CBOT soybean futures settled down 11-1/2 cents or 1.2% at $9.01-3/4 a bushel, off a $9.36-1/2 session peak that was its highest since June 2018.
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