The overall condition of the U.S. corn crop declined slightly last week as dry conditions impacted the crop in some states, but soybean conditions held steady according to Monday afternoon’s USDA weekly crop update.
USDA rated corn conditions 70% good/excellent as of Sunday, down from 71% a week earlier, but still above the year-ago rating of 64% good/excellent.
Soybean conditions were pegged by USDA at 67%, unchanged from a week earlier an up from 61% a year earlier.
Crop development accelerated during the week as parts of the Midwest benefitted from warmer weather.
USDA reported that 55% of the U.S. corn crop had silked as of Sunday – up from 31% a week earlier, but still behind the five-year average of 76%– while 7% of the crop had reached the dough stage against an average of 17%.
Some 63% of soybeans were said to be blooming as of Sunday, up from 44% a week earlier, but behind the five-year average of 76%; 20% of the crop was setting pods against an average 36%.
Corn crop conditions held steady at 80% good/excellent in the top U.S. producing state of Iowa and improved in the No. 2 corn state of Illinois to 62% good/excellent from 60% a week earlier.
Conditions slipped in a number of other key producing states. The good/excellent rating for the Nebraska crop slipped 4 percentage points to 78%, while the good/excellent rating for Minnesota corn slipped 3 points to 75%.
The portion of the corn crop rated good/excellent slipped by 2 percentage points in both Indiana and Ohio to 63% and 72%, respectively. The Michigan crop took a sharp drop from 63% good/excellent to 52%.
Soybean conditions improved slightly in the top producing state of Iowa to 79% good/excellent from 78% previously and improved markedly in the No. 2 producing state of Illinois to 61% good/excellent vs. 57% a week earlier.
Soybean conditions slipped slightly in Nebraska, Minnesota, Ohio and several other large producing states.
Editor’s note: Richard Brock, Corn & Soybean Digest's marketing editor, is president of Brock Associates, a farm market advisory firm, and publisher of The Brock Report.