In this week’s report, USDA reduced the national corn condition rating by three points - taking it down to 58 percent in the combined good to excellent categories. In the I-80 Corridor, Nebraska declined by four points and the important state of Iowa went down three. However, on the eastern end of the Corridor, Ohio improved by three percentage points. Outside the Corridor, conditions went downhill fast as North Dakota slid by seven points while South Dakota and Kansas both shaved off six. The best performance was turned in by Colorado which improved by eight points since last week.
The national soybean condition rating declined by one point to end up at 59 percent good to excellent. In the I-80 Corridor, Nebraska fell by three points and Iowa dropped by two. On the other hand, Indiana picked up three points thanks to beneficial rains last week. Just as in the corn, the northern Plains really struggled with South Dakota trimming five points and North Dakota dropping four. However, the biggest drop in condition was turned in by Michigan which posted a big slide of seven points.
Cotton condition nationwide came down by seven points this week, dragging it down to only 31 percent good to excellent. A large part of the reason why is that the largest producing state of Texas took another big hit with its rating dropping by a huge 11 points. Alabama tried to hold up the average by showing a seven point improvement in its condition. Some of the other big moves were Missouri coming down by six points and South Carolina declining by five.
Grain sorghum (milo) condition nationwide actually improved by a modest one percentage point in the good to excellent categories. Nebraska had a huge toll taken on its crop as it declined by 11 points since a week ago. But that is balanced by neighboring Colorado improving by 11 points this week.
Rice condition across the nation saw a one point improvement on average compared to last week - placing it at 74 percent good to excellent. However, the rice ratings will mean less now since harvest is getting under way. California, where most of the rice is irrigated, posted a 10 point decline in condition since last week. Missouri went down by five points. On the positive side, Mississippi saw an eight point improvement.
Rice harvest shows up on the report this week with an initial progress rating of five percent completion. The only two states showing up on the rice harvest list are Texas which is 25 percent done and Louisiana which has reached 21 percent complete.
Peanut condition nationwide declined by one point on average to place it at 70 percent good to excellent this week. Far and away, the biggest change among the top producing states was reported in North Carolina which had a massive drop of 16 points in the last seven days. Florida did manage to post a seven point improvement over the past week.
The national spring wheat condition rating had another big decline this week as it dropped six points down to 64 percent good to excellent. As harvest is getting under way in many areas, the ratings of all the key states went down with the exception of Washington state which held steady. Keep in mind that the condition ratings are of little value as the crop reaches maturity and the combines begin to roll. This may be the last spring wheat condition report for this season.
Speaking of spring wheat harvest, the first harvest progress report of the year was included in this report and it showed that nine percent of the crop has already been taken out of the field. South Dakota made tremendous progress last week as it harvested 28 percent of its acreage to bring its total up to 54 percent already! Montana also made very good progress as it surged up to 22 percent completion.
Winter wheat harvest is coming down the home stretch with 86 percent completion nationwide as of Sunday compared to the five-year average of 91 percent. The Plains states are basically done with only some clean up harvesting left to be done in Nebraska and South Dakota.
Pasture conditions in the Plains continued their nosedive in the good to excellent ratings. Texas held steady, but only because it only has one single percentage point in the good to excellent categories. 90 percent (!) of the Texas pastureland falls in the poor to very poor categories. All the other Plains states saw additional declines with Kansas going down by five points. Oklahoma and Nebraska went down by four. The biggest drop in the Heartland was seen in Wyoming where the pasture rating collapsed by 13 points.
In the topsoil moisture deficit category (generally considered to measure the top four inches of soil representing the seed planting and sprouting zone), Texas reclaimed the top spot for dryness with 83 percent of its acres reported to be in the short to very short categories. Nevada comes in second with 80 percent. Some of the more noteworthy moves on this list include Kansas which reported a 14 percentage point increase in the driest categories while Montana and Wyoming both saw their deficit ratings increase by nine points.
In the subsoil moisture deficit category (considered to measure deep soil moisture down to a few feet where the crop roots would extend downward), Texas barely held on to the top spot with an 87 percent short to very short rating. Montana moves into second place with 86 percent. Wyoming saw its deficit rating move up by nine points since last week. On the bright side, Nevada took advantage of recent monsoonal rains to see its subsoil conditions improve by five points since the last report.
