Jun 02, 2020
2020 U.S. Crops Starting off in Generally Good Condition
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Corn - This is the second week that the corn condition has been reported and the condition of the 2020 U.S. corn crop improved 4% to 74% rated good to excellent. Fourteen states indicated that the corn condition improved last week while 4 states indicated that the corn condition declined last week. Most of the improvements were found across the Corn Belt while the declines were found in Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, and Colorado. The top five rated corn states are: Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Iowa. The five lowest rated corn states are: Illinois, Colorado, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio.
Last week the corn was rated 70% good to excellent and this week it is rated 74% good to excellent. These ratings are much better than last year, but only a little better than the long-term average. It is hard to make a long term judgement of the crop based on the first few weeks of crop ratings. You get a better idea about the crop once all the corn has emerged and started to grow.
Soybeans - This is the first week that the soybean condition is being reported and the 2020 U.S. soybean crop is rated 70% good to excellent. Generally the highest rated soybeans are in the western Corn Belt with the lowest rated soybeans in the eastern Corn Belt. The top five rated soybean states are: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Nebraska, Iowa, and South Dakota. The five lowest rated soybean states are: Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, and North Dakota.
The soybeans are rated 70% good to excellent, but with only 52% of the crop emerged, this rating only partially reflects the condition of the soybean crop. The 2020 soybean crop is starting off a little better than average and certainly much better than last year.
Soil moisture - This is the second week that I have rated the soil moisture and the nation's topsoil dried out a little last week with 14 states indicating that the soil got wetter last week while 3 states indicated that the soil got dryer. The five wettest states are: North Carolina, Arkansas, Kansas, Tennessee, and Michigan. The five driest states are: Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Minnesota, and North Dakota.
The soils are wetter than average, but not as wet as last year when we had significant flooding in the western Corn Belt. The longer range forecast is calling for warmer and dryer conditions, so the soil moisture should start to decline in the weeks ahead. The soil moisture generally declines until the second or third week of August when it makes a small recovery going into the early fall.