Iowa and Minnesota report as much as double the corn rated “Excellent” or “Good” as eastern Corn Belt States, with 88% and 82% respectively. Overall, corn conditions softened slightly, but maturity remains on target. Soybean conditions were unchanged from last week, but remain 8% behind last year’s level. Spring wheat harvest estimates nearly doubled after large reported increases from Minnesota and North Dakota.
The USDA estimated corn crop conditions in the U.S. as of August 9th, at 69% as “Excellent” or “Good,” a 1% decrease from last week, and a 2% decrease from last year. 21% of the crop was reported as “Fair,” unchanged from last week, but a 1% increase from last year. 10% was rated as “Poor” or “Very Poor,” a 1% increase from last week, and a 2% increase from last year.
Corn doughing was estimated by the USDA at 71%, a 21% increase from last week and a 5% increase from the five-year average. Of the five largest corn producing states, Illinois reported the most corn doughing at 84%, followed by Iowa at 74%, and Minnesota at 71%.
Corn dented was reported at 21%, a 12% increase from last week, but 7% behind the five-year average. Of the five largest corn producing states, Illinois reported the most dented corn at 38%, followed by Indiana at 16%, and Iowa and Nebraska both at 14%.
The USDA estimated soybean crop conditions at 63% “Excellent” or “Good,” unchanged from last week, but an 8% decrease from last year. 26% of the crop was rated as “Fair,” unchanged from last week, while 11% of the crop was rated as “Poor” or “Very Poor,” unchanged from last week.
Soybean blooming was reported at 93%, a 5% increase from last week, but a 2% decrease from the five-year average. Of the five largest soybean producing states, Minnesota reported the most at 99%, followed by Nebraska at 98%, and Iowa at 95%.
Soybeans setting pods were reported at 79%, a 10% increase from last week and even with the five-year average. Of the five largest soybean growing states, Minnesota reported the most at 94%, followed by Iowa at 84%, and Indiana at 83%.
Spring wheat conditions were reported at 70% “Excellent” or “Good,” a 1% increase from last week and a 2% increase from last year. 22% was rated “Fair,” a 1% decrease from last week, and 8% was rated “Poor” or “Very Poor."
Spring wheat harvested was reported by the USDA at 53%, a 25% increase from last year and a 22% increase from the five-year average. Farmers in Minnesota and North Dakota made the most progress last week, reporting harvest progress increases of 45% and 29% respectively.
September futures for corn closed the week at $3.63 per bushel, a 6.9% decrease from last week. September soybeans ended the week at $9.27, an 8.0% decrease from last week, and September wheat ended the week at $5.00, a 4.8% decrease from last week. Year-to-year corn prices are up 0.8%, soybeans are down 16.9%, and wheat is down 7.7%.
The data for this report was taken from the August 17, 2015 USDA Crop Progress report for the week ending August 16, 2015. The information reported is based on a survey of approximately 4,000 agriculture professionals making subjective estimates of the progress of crops in their area. The data is compiled by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service.