In this week’s report, USDA pegs the national corn condition showed a three point decline nationally down to 67 percent good to excellent. In the important I-80 Corridor encompassing the key corn production areas between Nebraska and Ohio, Indiana saw a huge 11 point decline in condition while Ohio dropped nine points! Nebraska also went down by four points and Iowa came down by three points, but it still maintains the highest rating of the I-80 states with 80 percent ranking good to excellent.
The national soybean condition rating also declined by three points to land it at 65 percent good to excellent. Just as in the corn, in the I-80 Corridor, Indiana and Ohio saw the largest declines in their condition ratings - dropping nine and seven points respectively. Nebraska also lopped off six points from their rating one week ago.
Cotton condition nationwide continues to deteriorate and now stands at only 37 percent good to excellent which is down three points from last week. The biggest mover was North Carolina which reported a 10 percent drop in its rating as drought conditions worsen. Georgia trimmed eight points and Mississippi went down by four. The largest producing state of Texas saw its rating dip another two points so its good to excellent rating is only 17 percent now. It’s possible the Texas rating may rebound a bit next week as they received some much needed moisture in the Panhandle over the weekend.
Grain sorghum condition nationwide followed the trend in the other grains and went down by three points to 43 percent good to excellent. Colorado saw the steepest decline in ratings as it went down by 12 percentage points. Kansas dropped by four and Nebraska slid downward by three. However, in the northern Plains, South Dakota reported their grain sorghum condition improved by 10 points since last week.
Rice condition actually went up one point to 73 percent good to excellent this week. Texas saw a surprising 12 point improvement, but Arkansas offset that by going down 10 points. Mississippi slipped lower by three points.
Peanut condition continued its downward spiral and saw its national rating lose seven points since last week to end up at 59 percent good to excellent. The biggest drop occurred in Florida where the rating slid lower by an amazing 21 points. South Carolina had a big 11 point loss and Georgia came down by 10.
Winter wheat condition nationally stayed unchanged at 30 percent in the combined good to excellent categories. Harvest in the Plains is already well into central and northern Kansas, so the only ratings that matter now are in Nebraska which went down three points and South Dakota where the condition improved by eight points.
Winter wheat harvest has reached 41percent complete nationwide - running well ahead of its 35 percent five-year average. Texas is 80 percent complete and Oklahoma made tremendous progress to be 90 percent done. Kansas is making quick work of this year’s harvest where it now stands at 59 percent complete versus its average pace of 40 percent. Nebraska registers on the tally board this week with one percent now out of the field.
The national spring wheat condition rating held steady at 59 percent good to excellent. Washington state managed to improve its crop rating four points over last week where it is now at an incredible 93 percent! Montana came up by three points, but still has the lowest rating of only 28 percent in the combined top categories. Idaho shaved off four points from its rating a week ago.
Pasture conditions in the Plains showed widely variable conditions. South Dakota saw a big 11 percentage point improvement since last week. However, neighboring Nebraska dropped by that same amount. Oklahoma’s pastureland condition came down by seven points. Interestingly, North Dakota saw a 10 point decline and Wyoming came down by nine points.
In the topsoil moisture deficit category (generally considered to measure the top four inches of soil representing the seed planting and sprouting zone), Texas kicked New Mexico out of the top spot with 93 percent of its topsoil moisture considered to be short to very short. New Mexico now moves into second place with 90 percent after the rating declined by three points from a week ago. Georgia now claims the third spot after they dropped by 11 points and the biggest jaw dropping move came from the commonwealth of Kentucky which crashed by 40 points amid rapidly growing dryness concerns.
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 and Texas are now in a tie with 92 percent of their acres declared short to very short. For New Mexico, it was actually an improvement of three points from last week, but Texas reported a four point decline. One of the biggest movers on the list was South Carolina which saw a very large 15 point increase in its deep soil moisture deficit from one week ago.
