May 24, 2016
First Nationwide Corn Condition Should be less than Last Year
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Next week we will get the first corn condition rating for the 2016 U.S. corn crop. Last year, the first rating indicated that 74% of the corn was in good to excellent condition. I think that the first rating this year will be a little lower than that, maybe in the range of 65% good to excellent.
Some of the reasons why this year may be a little lower include: frost damaged corn in the upper Midwest, yellowish corn due to cool temperatures, slow growth due to cool temperatures, spotty stands in some locations. These early ratings can vary significantly from week to week until the crop gets more firmly established. One of the hallmarks of the last two growing seasons was how consistently good the corn and soybean crops were rated for the entire summer (see graphs at the end of this report).