U.S. Corn in Good To Excellent Condition Remains Ahead of 2024 Reports
The USDA Crop Progress Report released on July 28 showed minor week-over-week changes in the condition of corn, soybeans, and spring wheat.
Corn
At the time of the report, 76% of the corn crop had reached the silking stage. This falls squarely between last year’s report of 75% and the five-year average of 77%. With 26% of corn in the dough stage, the nation is slightly behind last year’s 28%. However, it remains two percentage points above the five-year average of 24%.
Corn conditions declined just one percentage point from the previous week, with 73% of the crop in good-to-excellent condition. Even so, the crop remains five percentage points ahead of last year’s good-to-excellent condition in the same time period. And while 7% of the crop is in very-poor-to-poor condition, that’s lower than last year’s 9%.
Soybeans
On the other hand, the percentage of soybeans rated good to excellent climbed to 70%. That’s two percentage points higher than the previous week and three higher than last year. Six percent of soybeans are in very poor-to-poor condition, compared to 7% last week and 8% last year. The majority of soybean plants (76%) in the report were blooming, while 41% were reported to be setting pods.
Spring wheat
As for spring wheat, 92% of the crop was headed at the time of the report. That’s slightly behind the five-year average of 95%. With 49% of the crop rated good to excellent, conditions are significantly different compared to last year’s 74%. An estimated 1% of spring wheat has been harvested.
Winter wheat
The winter wheat harvest neared the five-year average, coming in at 80% nationwide. Kansas and Illinois harvests are nearing completion, while areas like Montana, Idaho and Washington are all under 50%.