National corn condition ratings gained two more points in the good to excellent ratings as they moved up to 59 percent thanks to recent beneficial rains and mild temperatures of the majority of the Corn Belt. In the I-80 Corridor, Illinois scored a six-point improvement while Indiana and Ohio both saw gains of three points. Iowa posted a one-point decline. Outside the Corridor, South Dakota reported a nice gain of four points.
The national soybean condition rating made a solid move of five points to the upside in the good to excellent categories, bringing it up to 59 percent. Illinois continues to benefit from great growing weather so its rating jumped by 12 points! Even though Iowa had a slight decline in its corn condition rating, its soybean rating surprisingly improved by five points. Outside the Corridor, it is noteworthy that South and North Dakota reported improvements of seven and six points respectively.
Cotton condition ratings nationwide slid lower by five points to land at only 36 percent good to excellent. Of the top five producing states, North Carolina had the most difficulty as its rating went down by six. Georgia saw its rating decline by four points.
The national grain sorghum condition rating went backwards by three points this week to show a good to excellent rating of 54 percent. In the Plains, Nebraska had the best performance by far as it picked up 10 points from a week ago. Its northern neighbor, South Dakota, gained six points. On the other end of the spectrum, the largest producing state of Texas dropped five points.
Spring wheat condition nationally went up by a single point to 42 percent, but the vast majority of the crop is now mature and harvest is in full swing, so this will be our last spring wheat condition update for this growing season.
Spring wheat harvest made good strides in most states with the exception of Idaho. Nationally, 24 percent of the crop is now cut compared to its five-year average of 28 percent. Idaho continues to run far behind its normal pace with only six percent of its acres harvested - 23 points behind its average pace. South Dakota is now over half done with 54 percent now out of the field, but that is still lagging its average by 10 points.
Pasture conditions improved in the far north and far south, but improved in the middle this week. In the Plains, Nebraska and South Dakota showed the biggest rebounds in their ratings with six and seven percent respectively. In the southern reaches of the Plains, the Texas rating went down by two points and Oklahoma declined by one. In the mountain states, Wyoming reported a huge improvement of 11 points. New Mexico managed to improve by nine, but in the northern Plains, North Dakota dropped by six points.
In the topsoil moisture deficit report (generally considered to measure the top four inches of soil representing the seed planting and sprouting zone), Texas moves back into the dubious driest spot with 93 percent of its acres now considered to be short to very short on moisture. Washington state comes in second with 86 percent.
In the subsoil moisture deficit report (considered to measure deep soil moisture down to a few feet where the crop roots would extend downward), Texas maintains the top position with 88 percent of its acreage in the short to very short categories - seven points worse than last week. Washington state holds down the second spot with 78 percent even though it improved one point from a week ago.
USDA Crop Progress 230814.pdf
