The talk of possible rain relief comes as drought continues to impact crops, with spring wheat conditions hitting the lowest rating since 1988.
USDA’s latest Crop Progress Report shows only 9% of the spring wheat crop across the country is rated good to excellent. 66% is rated poor to very poor. With conditions continuing to deteriorate, USDA Meteorologist Brad Rippey says you have to go back to 1988 to find a spring wheat crop rated this poor.
Meanwhile, the corn crop dropped 1 point in a week, now at 64% good to excellent nationally, and soybeans slipped 2 points, falling to 58% good to excellent across the country.
“With the dry weather in the Midwest, and disappearing moisture supplies in the Upper Midwest, we saw a two point decline in the good to excellent ratings, down to 58%,” says Rippey. “That’s of course below last week’s 60%, and now 12% is very poor to poor. That’s up a point from last week.”
Taking a closer look at soybeans, USDA shows Minnesota farmers are seeing their worst conditions in 18 years. That state’s crop condition ratings dropped 7 points in just one week, now 36% of the crop is rated good to excellent.
Iowa’s soybean rating slipping 4 percentage points to 61% good to excellent.
