Large Decline in Corn Conditions After Dry, Warm Week -Braun

Seven of the 11 U.S. Crop Watch producers have reduced condition scores on their corn and soybean fields due to ongoing dryness, particularly in the eastern Corn Belt, where no rain was observed last week.

Condition scores could fall again next week as forecasts suggest drier-than-normal weather across most growing areas in the next several days, though normal-to-cooler temperatures expected for eastern regions will be welcome after last week’s heat.

Each week the Crop Watch producers assign condition scores to their fields on a 1-to-5 scale. The ratings are similar to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s where 1 is very poor, 3 is average and 5 is excellent. Crop Watch conditions do not incorporate yield assumptions, which will come later in the season.

The 11-field, unweighted average corn condition fell to 4.02 from 4.4 last week on seven score reductions, including South Dakota, Nebraska, eastern Iowa, both Illinois locations, Indiana and Ohio. North Dakota corn debuted this week at 2.75, as heavy rains after planting have caused crusting and uneven emergence.

Excluding score changes caused by debuting scores, the latest weekly drop in corn conditions is Crop Watch’s largest for any week since August 2020, when the eastern Iowa field was ruined by a derecho.

Minnesota was the only location where corn health improved last week, to a 4 from a 3, as 0.3 inch of rain was enough to perk up the crop. Those rains also helped the soybeans increase to 2.75 from 2, as replanted beans are now emerging.

The eastern Iowa soybeans were the only other field to improve last week with a 0.7-inch rain, which was not necessarily widespread in the area. Crop conditions in the beans, replanted May 20, rose a quarter-point to 4.25.

But otherwise, every location where corn conditions fell, except eastern Iowa, also featured a decline in bean health. The 10-field average fell to 4.0 from 4.13 in the prior week. The heaviest reductions were in southeastern Illinois, Indiana and Ohio with a half-point drop each.

The Illinois and Indiana producers said anxiety will surge if the forward forecast is still dry by this weekend, as it will be more difficult to recover the crops. The Nebraska fields also got no rain last week despite scattered showers around the state, and the producer thinks the dryland crops could hang on a max of two more weeks with no rain.

\Source: hellenicshippingnews.com

Photo Credit: GettyImages-oticki