Jul 16, 2019
U.S. Crop Conditions Improved Slightly Last Week
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Corn - The condition of the 2019 U.S. corn crop improved 1% to 58% rated good to excellent. Eleven states indicated that the corn condition improved last week while 5 states indicated that the corn condition declined last week and 2 states were unchanged. Most of the improvements were found in the central Corn Belt while most of the declines were found in the western Corn Belt. The top five rated corn states are: Tennessee, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Texas, and North Dakota. The five lowest rated corn states are: Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois.
The warmer conditions helped some of the corn, but it also hurt some of the corn especially where the soil moisture is starting to dry out.
Soybeans - The condition of the 2019 U.S. soybean crop improved 1% last week to 54% rated good to excellent. Six states indicated that the soybean condition improved last week while 8 states indicated that the soybean condition declined last week and 4 were unchanged. Most of the improvements were found in the southern Corn Belt while most of the declines were found in the central and western Corn Belt. The top five rated soybean states are: Tennessee, Kentucky. Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wisconsin. The five lowest rated soybean states are: Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, and Michigan.
Some of the soybeans were also helped by the warm weather, while other soybeans were hurt by the dry weather.
Soil moisture - The nation's topsoil dried out again last week with 6 states indicating that the soil got wetter last week while 12 states indicated that the soil got dryer. Most of the wetter conditions were found in the mid-South and the Delta as a result of Hurricane Barry, while most of the dryer conditions were found generally across the western Corn Belt. The five wettest states are: Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Minnesota, and South Dakota. The five driest states are: Indiana, Illinois, Arkansas, Iowa, and North Carolina.
With the type of weather we had last week, it is no surprise that the nation's soils got dryer. Rainfall last week was limited outside of the areas impacted by Hurricane Barry. As you can see on the Soil Moisture Index graph (page 3), we are now just a little wetter than average for the middle of July. Given the current forecast, I think the soil moisture will continue to decline this week as well, but it will probably depend on the rainfall from Hurricane Barry.