With U.S. corn harvest activity over half complete, way above normal, this is keeping the outlook for the CME Group corn, soybean and wheat markets lower Tuesday. 

The Early Calls for the commodities on Tuesday, October 2, 2012, are lower. Corn is seen opening 3-5 cents lower, soybeans 18-20 cents lower, and wheat 7-9 cents lower.

In overnight trading, the Dec. corn futures contract traded 3 1/2 cents lower at $7.53 per bushel. Nov. soybean futures traded 17 cents lower at $15.42 per bushel, and Dec. wheat traded 10 cents lower at $8.73. For Dec. soybean meal futures, the contract traded $3.70 per short ton lower at $470.80. Dec. soybean oil futures traded $0.74 lower at $50.45.

The outside markets are favorable for Tuesday's grain trade. The real factors driving the calls will be the lower overnight markets.

On Monday, the USDA rated the U.S. corn harvest as 54%, vs. 18% a year ago. That's three-times the normal pace. The U.S. soybean crop is 41% harvested.

Discuss the corn, soybean and wheat markets in Marketing Talk.