* Forecasts see potential stress during corn pollination
    * New-crop December corn rebounds after 2-1/2-year low
    * Analysts expect improved USDA corn, soy condition ratings
    * Wheat up on short-covering, Chinese demand, Russia worries

 (Updates with closing prices, adds analyst comment)
    By Julie Ingwersen
    CHICAGO, July 8 (Reuters) - U.S. corn and soybean prices
rose Monday on forecasts for stressful heat in the Midwest later
this month, with the new-crop December corn contract rebounding
from a 2-1/2 year low set last week.
    Soybeans drew additional support from tight U.S. cash
supplies of soybeans and soymeal which lifted the front months
	

		

			
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of both products to contract highs.
    Wheat firmed on export demand for U.S. grain and concerns
about crops in Russia.
    At the Chicago Board of Trade, September corn futures 
settled up 7-1/2 cents at $5.33-1/4 per bushel. August soybeans
 ended up 23-1/2 cents at $14.55-1/2 a bushel while
new-crop November soy ended up 24 cents at $12.52-1/4.
    CBOT September wheat settled up 3 cents at $6.63 a
bushel.
    Weather was the focus for corn traders as the Midwest crop
approached its critical pollination phase, when hot and dry
weather can cut yield potential. Following planting delays
during a cool, wet spring, much of the crop will be pollinating
in the second half of July.
    The Commodity Weather Group (CWG), a private U.S. weather
forecaster, said the southwestern portion of the Midwest should
see only limited rain in the next two weeks.
    "This will allow for some minor corn stress to build in
parts of Missouri, central and southern Iowa, Nebraska and
Kansas," CWG said in a daily note to clients.
    Added Dan Cekander, an analyst with Newedge USA in Chicago,
"The 11- to 15-day forecast was definitely hotter than it was
going home Friday ... fear of a developing warmer, drier pattern
	

		

			
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in the southwestern Corn Belt is the bottom line."
    The CBOT December corn contract, which represents the
2013 harvest, ended up 9-1/4 cents at $5.00-1/2 a bushel. The
contract fell to $4.89-1/2 on Friday, its lowest level since
late 2010.
    December corn tumbled nearly 12 percent in the previous two
weeks as mostly benign crop weather allowed traders to be more
confident about prospects for U.S. corn production. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture has projected the crop at a
record-large 14.005 billion bushels.
    Recent crop weather has been mostly favorable, and the
USDA's weekly U.S. crop progress report due later on Monday is
expected to show an improvement in crop ratings. 
    Analysts surveyed by Reuters expected USDA to rate 68
percent of the corn and soybean crops in good to excellent
condition, both up from 67 percent a week earlier.
 
    
    CONTRACT HIGH IN JULY SOYBEANS
    Soybeans followed corn higher, with the spot July soybean
 and soymeal contracts drawing added support from
extremely tight U.S. cash markets. CBOT July grain and oilseed
contracts expire on Friday, adding to volatility in the spot
months.
    July soybeans settled up 21-1/4 cents at $16.09-1/4 a
	

		

			
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bushel after setting a contract high at $16.16-1/4. July soymeal
 set a contract high at $512 per short ton and settled at
$511.10, up 4.5 percent for the day.  
    "You've got no supply," said Sterling Smith, futures
specialist with Citigroup in Chicago, referring to U.S. soymeal.
"The long side of the market has got the short pinned. If you
don't have the stuff to deliver, you've got to get out."
      
    WHEAT HIGHER AFTER CHINA PURCHASE
    Wheat futures rose on short-covering and supportive
fundamental news, including more sales of U.S. soft red winter
wheat to China. The USDA on Monday confirmed private sales of
840,000 tonnes of soft red wheat to China for 2013/14 shipment,
bringing China's purchases since last week to more than 1.3
million tonnes. 
    Meanwhile, after a promising start to the U.S. soft red
winter wheat harvest, rains in the eastern Midwest and mid-South
have slowed progress and threatened crop quality, agronomists
said. 
    Also, two leading agricultural analysts on Monday cut their
forecasts for Russia's 2013 wheat crop, citing drought in
several growing regions and lower-than-expected yields.
 
    
 Prices at 2:04 p.m. CDT (1904 GMT)      
                              LAST      NET    PCT     YTD
                                        CHG    CHG     CHG
 CBOT corn                  533.25     7.75   1.5%  -23.6%
 CBOT soy                  1455.50    23.50   1.6%    2.6%
 CBOT meal                  442.10    13.50   3.2%    5.1%
 CBOT soyoil                 46.96    -0.18  -0.4%   -4.5%
 CBOT wheat                 663.00     3.00   0.5%  -14.8%
 CBOT rice                 1480.50   -15.00  -1.0%   -0.4%
 EU wheat                   193.50    -1.25  -0.6%  -22.7%
 
 US crude                   103.04    -0.18  -0.2%   12.2%
 Dow Jones                  15,231       96   0.6%   16.2%
 Gold                      1236.25    12.94   1.1%  -26.2%
 Euro/dollar                1.2874   0.0044   0.3%   -2.4%
 Dollar Index              84.1850  -0.2620  -0.3%    5.5%
 Baltic Freight               1115       16   1.5%   59.5%
 

 (Additional reporting by Gus Trompiz in Paris and Naveen
Thukral in Singapore; Editing by Richard Pullin, Keiron
Henderson, Chris Reese and Jim Marshall)