The overall corn and soybean crops are silking and flowering, but continue to decline. At one-quarter silked, the corn crop good/excellent rating dropped 8 points over the last week, adding those points to the very poor/poor rating. The soybean crop is 26% bloomed, but also slipped 8 points in the good/excellent rating.
All states are seeing corn silking now, compared to last week. Despite the heat and crop stress, the crop is 25% silked overall, well ahead of the 8% five-year average. Last year at this time, only 5% of the corn crop had silks.
Corn condition dropped from 56% good/excellent last week to 48% this week. Last year at this time, 69% of the corn crop was in good/excellent condition. Nearly one-quarter of the overall corn crop is now in very poor/poor condition. Half of the Indiana crop is in very poor/poor condition, as are almost half (48%) of the Kentucky and Missouri corn crops. Corn in the upper Corn Belt seems to be faring better, with Minnesota’s crop at 82% good/excellent. Eighty-one percent of the North Dakota corn crop is in good/excellent condition.
The soybean crop is still progressing ahead of normal, at just over one-quarter bloomed compared to the five-year average of 12%. The ratings, however, continue to decline. Last week, the soybean crop was 53% good/excellent overall. This week the overall condition is 45% good/excellent. The 8 points lost there were added to the very poor/poor condition ratings, now at 22% overall. Nearly half of the Missouri soybean crop is in very poor/poor condition, along with 43% of the Indiana crop. Last year at this time, only 6% of the overall crop was in very poor/poor condition. Soybeans in Minnesota seem to be thriving at 74% good/excellent. The Mississippi crop is doing well at 71% good/excellent. North Dakota beans are in the best condition, with 77% of its soybean crop in good/excellent condition.