Market News & Headlines >> U.S. Corn, Soybean Crops Thriving

The U.S. corn crop thrived last week amid above-normal temperatures and beneficial rainfall, while soybean conditions slipped slightly, but remained historically strong. 

USDA rated U.S. corn conditions 78% good/excellent as of Sunday, up 1 percentage point from a week earlier and 2 points above the average of trade expectations. The good/excellent rating was 11 points above a year earlier and equaled the third highest on record for week 24 of the year in USDA data going back to 1986. Only 4% of the U.S. corn crop was rated poor/very poor, down from 8% a year earlier. 

U.S. soybean conditions were rated 73% good/excellent by USDA, down 1 percentage point from a week earlier and 1 point below the average of trade expectations, but still 6 points above a year earlier. The rating matched the highest on record for week 24 of the calendar year. Some 5% of the U.S. soybean crop was rated poor/very poor, down from 7% a year earlier. USDA estimated 90% of the crop had emerged, ahead of the five-year average of 81%. 

Corn crop ratings did slip slightly in two of the top four producing states, but overall remained very strong in all four. Iowa corn conditions were rated 84% good/excellent, up 3 points from a week earlier, with Illinois conditions rated 81% good/excellent, down 1 point. Minnesota corn conditions were rated 88% good/excellent, down from 90% a week earlier and Nebraska conditions at 86% good/excellent were unchanged from a week earlier. 

Soybean crop ratings declined notably in three of the top four producing states, but also remained historically strong. Iowa soybean conditions were rated 80% good/excellent, up 2 percentage points on the week, while Illinois conditions were rated 77% good/excellent, down 6 points from a week earlier. In Minnesota, soybean conditions were rated 83% good/excellent, down 3 points, while in Nebraska, cop conditions were rated 82% good/excellent, down 5 points on the week.

Missouri is the one clear trouble spot for both the corn and soybean crops with that state's corn conditions rated only 48% good/excellent and its soybean conditions rated just 44% good/excellent.