USDA says recent rains in some areas, and lack of rain in other portions of the country, didn’t do enough to change crop conditions this past week.
According to the latest Crop Progress report, 60% of the corn crop is rated good to excellent, unchanged from last week. Kentucky, North Carolina and Wisconsin are rated the top three states in corn conditions ratings across the country. However, Illinois ratings continue to show improvement week by week.
“I think Illinois growers have a lot to be excited about, especially being this late in the year,” BASF technical service rep Mike Probst told AgDay’s Clinton Griffiths at the BASF Seymour, Ill. research site on Monday. “The crops are starting to wind down. There’s lot to be excited about.”
The latest USDA report shows Illinois corn crop conditions climbed 3 points from last week, now sitting at 70% of the crop rated good to excellent. Probst says some farmers are looking at the possibility of record yields this year.
“We’ve gotten the most recent report shows less than 10% of the crop is poor to very poor. So, that’s something that growers can be really excited about. But within that, there’s a pretty diverse range of conditions on those extreme ends. Some of the water stressed areas that we’ve been seeing are really struggling. Luckily, those are the ones that have just been hit by those excess rainfall events. And then we’ve got some on the opposite end where growers are talking about fields that may be some of the highest yields they’ve seen.”
USDA shows U.S. soybean conditions are also unchanged in the latest report, with 58% still in good to excellent condition. Illinois ratings improved in soybeans, as well, up 4 points from last week. The state now sits at 71% of the soybean crop across the state rated good to excellent.
