Jul 17, 2018
U.S. Crop Conditions Decline due to Dryer Conditions
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
Corn - The condition of the U.S. corn crop declined 3% last week to 72% rated good to excellent. Four states indicated that the corn condition had improved last week and 14 states indicated that the condition had declined last week. Most of the improvements were found in the northwestern Corn Belt, while most of the declines were found everywhere else. The top five rated corn stares are: Tennessee, Nebraska, North Dakota, and a three way tie between Illinois, Ohio, and Wisconsin. The five lowest rated corn states are: Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Kansas, and Michigan.
With the dryer weather last week, it was no surprise that the condition ratings declined.
Soybeans - The condition of the U.S. soybean crop declined 2% last week to 69% rated good to excellent. Seven states indicated that the soybean condition had improved last week, 10 states indicated that the soybean condition had declined last week, and 1 was unchanged. Most of the improvements were found in the northwestern Corn Belt and the Delta, while most of the declines were found in the central Corn Belt. The top five rated soybean states are: Tennessee, Wisconsin, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Minnesota. The five lowest rated soybean states are: North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, Michigan, and a tie between Arkansas, and Louisiana.
The soybean condition did not decline quite as much as the corn probably because corn has a higher water requirement this time of the year.
Soil Moisture - The nation's soil moisture declined last week with only 1 state indicating that the soil moisture improved and 17 states indicating that the soil moisture declined last week. The only improvement was found in Louisiana while all the other states declined. The five states with the best soil moisture are: Minnesota, Iowa, Tennessee, North Dakota, and South Dakota. The five states with the driest soils are: Missouri, Michigan, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Mississippi.
The soil moisture declined as expected last week due to the relatively dry and sunny weather across much of the Corn Belt. After several weeks of good moisture, the soil moisture across the nation is now approaching average for this time of the year. Generally the driest area is the southwestern Corn Belt, but Michigan has become very dry with 78% of the soil rated short to very short on soil moisture.