In this week’s report, USDA pegs the national corn condition showed a two point decline nationally down to 70 percent good to excellent. In the important I-80 Corridor encompassing the key corn production areas between Nebraska and Ohio, Nebraska improved by three points to 68 percent in the combined good to excellent categories, but the other states in that region showed significant declines. Ohio’s condition dropped eight points, while Illinois went down by six. Indiana also slid downward in condition by four percentage points and Iowa went down three. Oddly enough, with the weather finally drying out, the northern states of South Dakota and Minnesota saw three and seven point improvements respectively.
The national soybean condition rating also declined by two points to land it at 68 percent good to excellent. In the I-80 Corridor, ALL of the states saw lower condition ratings this week with Illinois seeing a huge drop of 10 percentage points! Indiana and Ohio both saw three point declines. On the other hand, when you get into the northwestern Corn Belt states, USDA reported significant improvements with South Dakota increasing by eight points while North Dakota and Minnesota went up by four and three points respectively.
Cotton condition nationwide dropped to only 40 percent good to excellent which is down six points from last week. Double digit declines were seen in several states with Alabama showing the biggest decline of fourteen points. North Carolina went down by 13 points and Georgia trimmed 10 points from last week’s rating. The only major producing state with an improvement was Mississippi which went up by three points.
Grain sorghum condition nationwide went down by one point to 46 percent good to excellent. That national average hides the details of huge drops in crop condition in Oklahoma which declined by an amazing 31 percentage points and Colorado which went down by 15 points. Those lower numbers were counterbalanced by Kansas, Nebraska, and the largest producing state of Texas which posted improvements.
Rice condition went down one single point to 72 percent good to excellent this week. While most states saw a modest improvement in the crop, Texas posted a significant drop of 10 points since a week ago. Mississippi had the largest increase with a five percentage point gain.
Peanut condition saw a five point drop from last week to end up at 66 percent good to excellent. Almost all of the key producing states saw declines in condition highlighted by drops of 11 points in Alabama and South Carolina while Georgia shaved off nine points.
Winter wheat condition nationally went down by one point to 30 percent in the combined good to excellent categories. With harvest advancing northward at a rapid pace, the condition ratings mean less and less as the crop matures in the southern half of the Plains. It is noteworthy that further north where it still matters, both Nebraska and South Dakota saw four point declines since last week.
Winter wheat harvest has reached 25 percent complete nationwide compared to a 22 percent average. Texas and Oklahoma are both said to be 72 percent done with their harvest and Kansas surged past its five year average of 18 percent to reach 27 percent harvested already.
The national spring wheat condition rating reflects the abundant moisture received in most areas of the northern US as 59 percent is now rated good to excellent across the nation - five point pickup from the last report. All of the key producing states saw large improvements in their crop since a week ago. However, Idaho alone posted a six point decline. Montana managed to show an impressive 10 percentage point improvement, but you have to consider that it only had 15 percent of its crop rated good to excellent last week. South Dakota and Minnesota both picked up nine points and Washington state gained eight points.
Pasture conditions in the Plains showed Nebraska posting a seven point drop after having big gains the previous week. Texas pastureland sank another four points so only seven percent qualifies for the good to excellent categories while it has 72 percent in the poor to very poor categories. The best rating comes in from North Dakota with 81 percent of its grassland reaching good to excellent status - a gain of 11 points in just the last week.
In the topsoil moisture deficit category (generally considered to measure the top four inches of soil representing the seed planting and sprouting zone), New Mexico retained the dubious top spot with 93 percent of its acres rated short to very short on moisture. Texas added nine points to its deficit, but the big story comes from Colorado, Georgia, and Louisiana this week where all three of those states saw increases of 20 percent or more in their moisture deficit rating from one week ago.
In the subsoil moisture deficit category (considered to measure deep soil moisture down to a few feet where the crop roots would extend downward), New Mexico stays locked in the top spot at 95 percent short to very short. Texas declined by another seven points to show 88 percent of its acres in the short to very short categories. The biggest mover was Louisiana which went from 45 percent last week to 64 percent this week - an increase of 19 points in the deep soil moisture deficit in just the last seven days.
