Market News & Headlines >> Soy Crop Rating Up Again; Corn Slips

The condition of the U.S. soybean crop continued to improve last week, while corn conditions deteriorated slightly, according to Monday afternoon’s weekly Crop Progress report from USDA. 

USDA rated U.S. corn conditions 71% good/excellent and 8% poor/very poor as of Sunday compared with 72% good/excellent and 7% poor/very poor a week earlier. The good/excellent rating was 1 percentage point below the average of trade expectations in a Reuters News Service poll, but was still 14 points above a year earlier and 4 points above the five-year average. 

Soybean conditions were rated 74% good/excellent and 5% poor/very poor as of Sunday by USDA, compared with 73% good/excellent and 6% poor/very poor a week earlier. The good/excellent rating was 2 points above the average of trade expectations, 20 points above a year earlier and 11 points above the five-year average. 

USDA estimated that 59% of the U.S. corn crop had reached the dough stage, well ahead of 34% a year ago and ahead of the five-year average of 52%, while 11% was dented, just behind the average pace of 12%. USDA estimated that 75% of the U.S. soybean crop was setting pods, up from just 49% a year earlier and the five-year average of 68%. 

Looking at key corn producing states, the portion of the crop rated good/excellent in the top growing state of Iowa declined for the fifth week in a row last week, dropping to 69% from 73%, while the good/excellent rating for the Minnesota crop slipped one point to 84% and the good/excellent rating for the Indiana crop slipped one point to 66%. However, the good/excellent rating for the Illinois crop rose by 3 points to 79%, while the good/excellent rating for the Nebraska crop rose by 1 point to 78%. 

Looking at the top soybean producing states, the good/excellent rating for the crop in top producer Iowa deteriorated for a fifth straight week last week, falling to 70% from 73% a week earlier. However, the portion of the crop rated good/excellent rose by two points in Illinois to 78% and rose by two points in Nebraska to 81%, while holding steady in Minnesota at a strong 84%. The good/excellent rating for Indiana soybeans slipped 1 point to 67%.