By Ian Berry
    Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
 
 
   CHICAGO (Dow Jones)--Falling crude-oil prices and continued favorable crop
 weather pushed Chicago Board of Trade corn futures lower Tuesday.
 
   September corn ended down 15 3/4 cents to $5.73 1/2, December corn was down
 16 cents to $5.92 1/4 and March was down 16 1/2 cents to $6.11 1/4.
 
   Analysts said the break in crude oil halted any ideas that the market would
 have a technical bounce Tuesday. Crude settled down $3.09 as fears of hurricane
 damage to U.S. Gulf Coast infrastructure eased.
 
   "The corn has really followed the crude oil very closely," said Joel Karlin,
 manager and commodity sales coordinator at Western Milling. He added that
 "every day the weather is favorable, the crop is getting bigger."
 
   "The crop is in very good condition, albeit late," Karlin said.
 
   Weather remains a bearish influence, traders and analysts said, as
 temperatures remain moderate amid periodic rainfall. Analysts said that if corn
 makes it through pollination in the next couple of weeks without excessive
 dryness, the crop won't face a significant weather threat until the early fall.
 
   Corn has had "horrible technical performance" recently, a trader said.
 December corn broke below $6 Tuesday, and its intraday low of $5.90 is its
 lowest price since April 1.
 
   The December contract peaked at $7.99 1/4 on June 27.
 
   Although many say the market is oversold, others say prices remain
 historically high and could continue to drop if crude falls and weather remains
 bearish.
 
   An analyst said the Environmental Protection Agency's announcement Tuesday
 that it would delay a decision on Texas' request for a waiver from the federal
 Renewable Fuels Mandate was also bearish.
 
   The EPA administrator said Tuesday he needed more time to announce whether he
 will roll back the law mandating a five-fold increase in annual ethanol
 production to 36 billion gallons. Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has sought the
 waiver, said the mandate is contributing to high corn prices that are hurting
 the state's beef, chicken and dairy industries through higher feed costs.
 
   The trade has expected the EPA would rule against Texas, said Vic Lespinasse,
 an analyst with grainanalyst.com. Approval of the waiver request would be seen
 as an indication the government was ready to curb ethanol usage, analysts said.
 
   CBOT oats ended slightly higher. Prices rebounded on late fund buying, a
 trader said. He added that "the only defensive thing in the whole market was
 corn." September oats were up one cent to $3.87 per bushel, December oats were
 up 1 cent to $4.05 and March oats were up 1 cent to $4.24.
 
   Ethanol futures were lower. September ethanol was down $0.093 to $2.254 per
 gallon and December ethanol was down $0.086 to $2.244.