Drought
Despite weekend rains sweeping the northern Corn Belt, corn and soybean conditions sit at the second-lowest level in history. Sizable declines hit key areas of the Corn Belt as corn enters a critical time for production.
Corn prices sunk as forecasts turned more optimistic for the weekend rains in the northern Corn Belt. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says the rains aren’t enough to change the potential production problems in Illinois.
Corn prices fell more than 30 cents on Friday, a change from the rapid run-up in prices the past two weeks, but even with chances of rain across the northern Corn Belt, drought continues to eat away at crop conditions.
Drought is deepening across the Midwest with 64% of the corn crop and 57% of the soybean crop across the U.S. now covered in drought, a sizable jump in just a week after NASS showed a historic drop in condition ratings.
Illinois crop ratings have dropped like a rock with only 33% of soybeans and 36% of corn rated good to excellent in this week’s USDA crop progress report.
The updated drought monitor indicates dryness will continue to expand across eastern Missouri, eastern Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
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Drought continues to deepen its grip across the Corn Belt, with Iowa and Illinois seeing large jumps in the moderate and severe drought categories. Now, more of the U.S. corn and soybean crop is covered in drought.
Last week, 34% of the U.S. corn crop was covered in drought, and this week it jumped to 45%. The second crop conditions ratings of the season from USDA-NASS confirmed dryness is starting to deteriorate crop conditions.