Nearly 3/4 of the corn crop has started silking and some has started hitting the dough stage in several states as the crop conditions continue to decline. Soybeans continue to progress with 2/3 of the crop blooming, and nearly all states seeing pods setting. Conditions declined again for the soybean crop this week, too.
The corn crop is almost twice ahead of average pace for silking this year. As of July 15, the 2012 crop is 71% silked vs. the five-year average of 36%. Twelve percent of the overall corn crop has reached dough stage, well ahead of the 4% five-year average. Colorado, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin are the only states with no corn at the dough stage yet.
It likely comes as no surprise that the overall corn condition continues to slide. Less than 1/3 of the overall corn crop is in good/excellent condition. Thirty-eight percent of the crop is in very poor/poor condition. Minnesota continues to have the highest-rated crops with 67% of its corn crop in good/excellent condition. The Kentucky corn crop is in the worst condition of all the corn this year: 77% of its crop is in very poor/poor condition.
The soybean crop is 66% bloomed overall. Most states are half to well over half bloomed, with the exception of Kansas (46%), Missouri (45%), North Carolina (20%) and Wisconsin (39%). The 2012 soybean crop continues its ahead-of-average schedule, which is 42%. The crop is setting pods in all states except Michigan. Sixteen percent of the overall crop has started pod set, ahead of the 9% five-year average.
The soybean condition rating slipped again, but not as much as the corn rating. The soybean crop is now rated only 34% good/excellent, 7 points fewer than last week. Nearly 1/3 of the crop is in very poor/poor condition at 30%. Beans in Mississippi continue to be the best with 73% in good/excellent condition. The soybeans in Missouri have taken the hardest hit. Fifty-nine percent of its soybean crop is in very poor/poor condition.