Continued heat and drought are taking their toll on the American corn crop. That's evident in today's crop condition report that shows the 18 states producing 92% of the corn crop saw condition slip to 48% good to excellent, that's an 8 percentage point drop from last week's 56% good to excellent rating.
The USDA report also shows that 25% of the crop is silking, well ahead of the five-year average. And that brings pollination into what will be one of the hottest weeks on record. Even states that have seen ample rain could be impacted by the sweltering temperatures.
Indiana now reports only 19% of its crop is good to excellent. For Kentucky only 20% of the crop is that well rated. Illinois and Kansas have 26% of the corn crop listed as good to excellent. Minnesota reports its crop at 82% good to excellent, North Dakota reports 81% good to excellent and Iowa has 62% good to excellent.
DETERIORATION HAPPENS: Drought, hot conditions beat down nation's corn crop.
Soybeans: This crop is slipping too falling to 45% good to excellent from 53% last week. And the soybean crop already started behind the average from its first report. Indiana reports just 20% of its soybeans at good to excellent, Illinois has 28% good to excellent, Kentucky is at 24% and Missouri is at 18% good to excellent.
Minnesota, which has seen record rains, shows soybeans at 74% good to excellent, and Iowa is holding its own at 59% good to excellent. The report shows that 26% of the crop has started to bloom, and thought it sounds like a broken record, that's ahead of the five-year average.
Wheat: USDA reports winter wheat is 69% harvested, which has the crop continuing to run ahead of last year. For the spring wheat crop, 73% is headed out. Spring wheat condition has slipped from last week to 71% from 77% a week ago, a sign that hot weather is impacting the crop as well. North Dakota holds top honors with 80% of its crop in good to excellent condition, Washington comes in at 75%, Minnesota at 66%, Montana at 63% and South Dakota at 60%.
Cotton: Condition of the crop has slid from 50% to 47%. USDA reports 49% of the crop is squaring and 14% is setting bolls, which is just about on track for the five-year average.
Sorghum: USDA reports that sorghum condition has slid to 34% from 44% a week ago, drought conditions are even catching up with this hardy crop. Kansas shows just 21% of the crop in good to excellent condition, Nebraska at 35%, Oklahoma at 39% and Missouri at 23%.
Peanuts: Peanuts are holding their own slipping just one percentage point from last week's report. USDA has the crop at 68% good to excellent. And about 38% of the crop is pegging.
Rice: Conditions are improving down South with 72% reporting good to excellent, it was 73% a week ago. About 20% of the crop is heading out, well ahead of the average.
Pasture/Range Condition: This week's report has only 25% of the pasture and rangeland in good to excellent condition. That's a big drop from 34% last week and shows the stress the ground is under with both heat and drought.
You can see the entire report online.