(Updates with closing prices)
    * Weekly U.S. wheat shipment tally biggest in at least 20
years
    * Corn follows wheat higher but big U.S. harvest looms
    * Soybeans sag on chart selling, rains in Midwest
    * Nov soy contract fills chart gap dating from late August

    By Julie Ingwersen
    CHICAGO, Sept 19 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade wheat
futures rose 1.6 percent Thursday, their biggest daily gain in
3-1/2 weeks as strong weekly U.S. export sales and technical
factors inspired investors to cover short positions, traders
said.
    Corn followed wheat higher but gains were not as robust as
	

		

			
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the U.S. harvest got under way. Soybeans fell on chart-based
selling and rains that could help some late-maturing crops. 
    At the CBOT, December wheat settled up 10-1/2 cents at
$6.57 per bushel, after hitting a two-week high at $6.62-1/2.
Gains accelerated as the contract broke through its 50-day
moving average near $6.58.
    December corn ended up 3-1/4 cents at $4.59-1/2 per
bushel and November soybeans fell 8-1/4 cents at
$13.39-1/2 a bushel.
    Wheat drew support from bullish export sales data. The U.S.
Department of Agriculture reported sales of U.S. wheat in the
latest week at just above 700,000 tonnes, topping trade
expectations, and export shipments of 1.2 million tonnes, the
biggest weekly tally in records dating to 1990. 
    "Chicago is underpinned with another really good week in
export sales. The market is taking notice, and teaming that up
with the quality problems we are hearing about in Russia and
Kazakhstan, the Black Sea region," said Mike Zuzolo, president
of Global Commodity Analytics in Atchison, Kansas.
    Traders noted Brazil bought 120,400 tonnes of U.S. wheat in
the last week. Brazil is not typically a major buyer of U.S.
wheat but has turned to the United States and other suppliers
	

		

			
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following poor crop weather in South America.
    "You've had three frost events in Brazil, so the South
American crops are in question, and people are watching that,"
said Roy Huckabay with the Linn Group, a Chicago brokerage.
    The Argentine government cut its estimate of the country's
2013/14 wheat area to 3.4 million hectares (8.4 million acres)
on Thursday, from a previous forecast of 3.9 million hectares,
citing dry planting conditions. 
    Wheat drew additional support from a drop in the value of
the U.S. dollar since a surprise decision Wednesday by the
Federal Reserve to maintain its stimulus. Wheat
competes in a global market, and a weaker dollar makes U.S.
supplies more attractive to those holding other currencies.
    Additionally commodity funds hold a large net short position
in CBOT wheat, leaving the market vulnerable to short-covering.
    Corn followed wheat higher but gains were limited by the
start of the harvest, with farmers poised to bring in the
largest crop on record. The USDA last week forecast the corn
crop at 13.8 billion bushels. A weekly crop report showed the
corn harvest was 4 percent complete by Sunday. 
    
    SOYBEANS FALL TO 3-1/2-WEEK LOW
    Soybeans fell on long liquidation and expectations that
	

		

			
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rains in the U.S. Midwest this week could help late-maturing
crops in a few areas.
    "Around 20 to 25 percent of the beans can still benefit from
a rain," Huckabay said.
    Technical selling played a role. The benchmark November
contract fell to a 3-1/2-week low at $13.31-1/4 per
bushel, filling a gap in the contract's chart that was
established on Aug. 26.
    Analysts expect that U.S. farmers will sell soybeans at
harvest while storing corn in hopes of higher prices. Nearby
CBOT soybean futures contracts are trading at a premium to
deferred contracts, they note, while the opposite is true for
corn.
    "I would suspect the farmer would be more aggressive in
selling beans off the combine as much as he can," said Mark
Schultz, analyst with Northstar Commodity Investment Co In
Minneapolis.
    
 Prices at 2:47 p.m. CDT (1947 GMT)      
                              LAST      NET    PCT     YTD
                                        CHG    CHG     CHG
 CBOT corn                  459.50     3.25   0.7%  -34.2%
 CBOT soy                  1339.50    -8.25  -0.6%   -5.6%
 CBOT meal                  421.60    -5.40  -1.3%    0.2%
 CBOT soyoil                 42.71     0.24   0.6%  -13.1%
 CBOT wheat                 657.00    10.50   1.6%  -15.6%
 CBOT rice                 1568.00     7.00   0.5%    5.5%
 EU wheat                   186.00     1.00   0.5%  -25.7%
 
 US crude                   106.14    -1.93  -1.8%   15.6%
 Dow Jones                  15,638      -39  -0.3%   19.3%
 Gold                      1366.50     1.96   0.1%  -18.4%
 Euro/dollar                1.3532    0.001   0.1%    2.6%
 Dollar Index              80.3570   0.1200   0.2%    0.7%
 Baltic Freight               1860       38   2.1%  166.1%
    

 (Reporting by Julie Ingwersen; Editing by David Gregorio and
James Dalgleish)