Jul 22, 2020
More than Half of 2020 U.S. Corn Pollinated, Rains Benefit
Author: Michael Cordonnier/Soybean & Corn Advisor, Inc.
The 2020 U.S. corn crop condition held steady last week at 69% rated good to excellent. The corn is 59% silking compared to 30% last year and 54% average. The corn is 9% in the dough stage compared to 4% last year and 7% average. The corn condition declined slightly on my Corn Crop Condition Index graph probably because of the way I weight the various states.
Rainfall last week benefited southern Iowa, northern Missouri, northern and central Illinois, and western Indiana. A lot of these regions received 2-4 inches with up to 5 inches near Peoria, Illinois. There was more rain over the weekend across southern Minnesota, northern Iowa, Wisconsin and northern Illinois with more rain on Monday across portions of the western Corn Belt. Temperatures were very hot over the weekend, but they are forecasted to be more seasonal for most of this week.
The areas that need the rainfall in the eastern Corn Belt are Ohio (76% rated short to very short on soil moisture) and Indiana (43% rated short to very short). There are also dry pockets in western Iowa, southwestern Minnesota, as well as in Nebraska and Kansas.
It seems like each day that goes by the weather becomes less threatening with scattered rains and more seasonal temperatures. Areas that received 2-3-4 inches of rain over the past week and weekend should have enough soil moisture until at least early August.
Having said that, I am still concerned about dry areas in the eastern and western Corn Belt as well as the high nighttime temperatures that have already been registered in many areas. There were especially high nighttime temperatures over the weekend, but the forecast is for more seasonal temperatures this week.