Market News & Headlines >> Corn Conditions Steady, Soybean Crop Slips

U.S. corn conditions held steady last week, and the soybean crop condition rating declined slightly as expected, while crop development remained well behind normal, according to Monday afternoon’s weekly USDA Crop Progress report. 

USDA pegged U.S. corn conditions at 55% good/excellent as of Sunday, unchanged from a week earlier, but 13 percentage points below a year earlier. The good/excellent rating was one point above the average of trade expectations in a Reuters News Service survey. The portion of the U.S. crop rated poor/very poor was also steady at 14%, 2 points above a year earlier. 

USDA estimated 4% of the U.S. corn crop had been harvested by Sunday, down from the five-year average of 7%. An estimated 68% of the U.S. corn crop was dented, up from 55% a week earlier, but down from the average of 87%; while 18% of the crop was mature, up from 11% a week earlier, but far below the average pace of 39%. 

USDA pegged U.S. soybean crop conditions at 54% good/excellent, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier and down 13 points versus a year earlier. The rating matched the average of trade expectations. The portion of the U.S. crop rated poor/very poor, meanwhile rose 2 points from a week earlier to 14% and was 4 points above a year earlier. USDA estimated that only 15% of the U.S. soybean crop had started dropping leaves as of Sunday, compared with the five-year average pace of 38%. 

Looking at the top growing states, the good/excellent rating rose by 2 points for the Iowa corn crop to 65% and rose by 3 points for the Illinois crop to 41%, but fell by 3 points in Minnesota to 52% and fell 2 points in Nebraska to 71%. The Indiana crop rating also slipped 3 points to just 31% good/excellent. 

The good/excellent rating for the Iowa soybean crop rose by 2 points to 63% and the good/excellent rating for the Illinois crop rose by 1 point to 42%, while the good/excellent rating fell 4 points in Minnesota to 55% and fell 1 point in Nebraska to 74%. The Indiana good/excellent rating also slipped 1 point to just 31%.