Sep 02, 2020
2020 U.S. Corn Condition Declines 2%, Corn is 12% Mature
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The 2020 U.S. corn yield was lowered 2 bushels this week to 176.0 bu/ac and I have a lower bias going forward.
The 2020 U.S. corn condition declined 2% last week to 62% rated good to excellent. The corn is 94% dough compared to 78% last year and 89% average. The corn is 63% dent compared to 37% last year and 56% average. The corn is 12% mature compared to 5% last year and 10% average.
The rainfall last week was mostly across the far northern areas and the mid-South. The rainfall from Hurricane Laura fell mostly in Louisiana, Arkansas, then across southern Missouri and into Kentucky and Tennessee. There were some showers over the weekend in the far northern Corn Belt and in Kansas, Indiana and Ohio, but in Ohio the rainfall was mostly in the eastern part of the state. There was not much rain at all over the past week in the dry areas of Nebraska, most of Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, and western Ohio. I would classify the rainfall last week and over the weekend as disappointing.
Iowa is the driest state in the Corn Belt with 81% of the soil moisture rated short to very short. In last week's Drought Monitor, Iowa was rated 96% abnormally dry (up 9% from the prior week), 60% moderate drought (up 15% from the prior week), 29% severe drought (up 6% from the prior week), and 6.5% extreme drought (up 0.4 from the prior week).
The forecast for this week is calling for seasonal temperatures with cooler air moving into the Midwest next week. Rainfall will be better across the northern and far southern areas with only scattered showers across the central Corn Belt where it is the driest. In many of the dryer areas, the rainfall during the month of August was only about 25% of normal
There are antidotal reports coming in from the field that some of the corn is quickly dying after a week of record high temperatures and a lack of rainfall. Those reports come as no surprise given the hot and dry weather to finish the month of August that was dryer than normal in many locations.