GRAINS-Corn futures pull back from 16-month high

Adds latest U.S. market activity

By Tom Polansek

CHICAGO, Feb 19 (Reuters) - Chicago Board of Trade corn futures pulled back from a 16-month high on Wednesday as traders booked profits and anticipated that recent gains will drive bigger U.S. plantings this spring.

Wheat futures backtracked from an eight-month high, while soybean futures also weakened.

The setback in corn came after the most-active contract Cv1 climbed about 10% this year on the back of robust U.S. export demand and a smaller-than-expected harvest last autumn.

"You can't go up every day," said Jim Gerlach, president of brokerage A/C Trading. "We've come a long way."

Most-active CBOT corn futures Cv1 were down 5-1/4 cents at $4.96-3/4 a bushel by 12:30 p.m. CST (1830 GMT) after climbing to $5.04-1/2, the highest price since October 2023. New-crop December corn CZ25 slipped 2 cents to $4.75-1/2 a bushel.

Analysts expect the recent surge will encourage farmers to plant more corn, as the crop looks more profitable than soybeans.

"The biggest most important factor in the corn market right now is we've been buying corn acres," Gerlach said. "It won't last forever."

Export demand for U.S. corn has been strong as prices remained attractive on the global market, despite recent gains.

Dry weather is damaging corn crops in Argentina and a behind-schedule sowing programme could curtail output in Brazil, Rabobank analyst Vitor Pistoia said.

"There won't be much corn available out of South America until summer," said Tomm Pfitzenmaier, analyst for Summit Commodity Brokerage. "The U.S. will be the primary supplier of corn for a while, which should be price supportive into the late winter."

U.S. corn inventories are projected to hit a two-year low before the next harvest, while world stocks are set to reach their lowest level in a decade, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

For wheat, traders are monitoring possible crop damage from severe frosts in the U.S. and Russia.

CBOT wheat Wv1 was down 13-3/4 cents at $6.04 a bushel, and soybeans Sv1 fell 7-1/4 cents to $10.31-1/4 a bushel.