Corn Condition Slips a Bit More
Heat, drought take their toll across the board in latest USDA crop report.
Willie Vogt 
Published: Aug 7, 2012
The crop condition report almost reads like a serial novel where you want to start "When last we left the US corn crop it was trapped in a heated, dry battle with the evil forces of drought and destruction…" And this week that's just how it reads. The U.S. corn crop is now officially 50% poor to very poor across the board, with just 23% in good to excellent thanks to the continued drought.
This latest report puts Illinois corn at 4% good, with 74% poor to very poor. Indiana has 7% good and 73% poor to very poor. And Missouri has 5% good to excellent with 84% poor to very poor. Makes a person wonder what USDA will report for estimated yield on Friday when that report comes out.
Heat, drought take their toll across the board in latest USDA crop report. Soybeans: Recent rains may have helped soybeans since the amount of beans in good to excellent didn't change, but the amount of beans rated poor to very poor did edge up two percentage points to 39%. Missouri is hardest hit here with 6% of the crop rated good to excellent and 74% rated poor to very poor. For Illinois 10% is rated good to excellent with 57% rated poor to very poor. In Indiana, 15% is rated good to excellent (OK, 14% good 1% excellent) with 53% rated poor to very poor.
The soybean crop is moving right along with 71% setting pods, well ahead of average. And 93% of the crop is blooming.
Wheat: The spring wheat crop is holding its own for condition with 63% good to excellent, the same level as last week. About 47% of the crop is harvested, which is well above the five year average.
Cotton: Condition of this year's crop slipped three percentage points as continued heat is taking its toll. The crop is not rated 41% good to excellent versus 44% last week. About 9% of the bolls have started opening on the crop, versus 7% for the five-year average. The crop has been pretty much keeping up with average maturity rates.
Sorghum: If sorghum is the fall back crop for the livestock industry, there could be trouble as heat and drought are pulling on this hardy crop as well. The latest report shows the crop slipped one percentage point to 25% good to excellent, but the poor to very poor rose to 45% from 42% a week ago. The crop is ahead of schedule as well with 61% headed and 32% coloring, which are both beating the five-year average.
Pasture and Range: The latest report shows pasture condition has declined to 16% good to excellent, which the amount rated poor to very poor rose to 59% from 57% last week. With more than 80% of the country impacted by the drought, open pasture and range areas are getting hit hard from Arkansas to Wisconsin.
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Tagged: Drought, usda, livestock, soybean crop
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