Jun 12, 2018
2018 U.S. Crop Conditions Decline Slightly
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Corn - The condition of the 2018 U.S. corn crop declined 1% last week to 77% rated good to excellent. Five states indicated that the corn condition improved last week, 8 states indicated that the corn condition declined last week, and 5 states were unchanged. Most of the improvements were found in the central Corn Belt while most of the declines were found in the southern and western areas. The top five rated corn states are: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Illinois, and Iowa. The five lowest rated corn states are: Texas, North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, and Pennsylvania.
Rains over the weekend aided the crops from North Dakota to Ohio, which is reflected in the continued good crop rating. The area that seemed to miss out was the southwestern Corn Belt especially Kansas, Missouri, Texas, as well as parts of the Delta.
Soybeans - The condition of the 2018 U.S. soybean crop declined 1% last week to 74% rated good to excellent. Seven states indicated that the soybean condition improved last week while 11 states indicated that the soybean condition had declined last week. Most of the improvements were found in the central Corn Belt while most of the declines were found in the northern and southern locations. The top five rated soybean states are: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Kentucky, and Tennessee. The five lowest rated soybean states are: Missouri, Kansas, Louisiana, North Carolina, and South Dakota.
The soybean condition remained strong and I suspect the crop will continue to be rated good given the rains over the past few days.
Soil Moisture - The nation's soil moisture declined slightly last week with 6 states indicating that the soil moisture improved last week and 12 states indicating that the soil moisture declined last week. Most of the improvements were found in the heart of the Corn Belt while most of the declines were found in the northern, western, and southern areas. The five states with the best soil moisture are: Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Illinois, and Kentucky. The five states with the driest soils are: Missouri, Louisiana, Kansas, Arkansas, and Mississippi.
The "ring of fire" pattern resulted in repeated episodes of rainfall over the past several days from North Dakota to Ohio. Once again, the area that seemed to miss out was the southwestern Corn Belt. The nationwide soil moisture is now just slightly below the long term average.