It’s a small shift but USDA’s 18-state corn condition rating slipped from 76 percent good/excellent to 74 percent and the poor/very poor rating worsened by one point.
Iowa’s crop was unchanged in ratings, while Nebraska’s top end gave up a point but the poor end was steady. South Dakota continued to see fewer good/excellent ratings and more poor/very poor.
Silking rose to 97 percent of corn acres in the 18 states, still ahead of the 94 percent average. Fifty-three percent of the acres in the 18 states are in the dough stage. In the states Farm Credit Services of America (FCSAmerica) serves, Iowa, at 61 percent, is far above its 37 percent average.
Nine percent of the 18-state acreage is dented, slightly below the 12 percent average.
|
State
|
Percent Dough
|
Good/Excellent
|
Poor/Very Poor
|
|
|
Aug. 7
|
Aug. 7
|
July 31
|
Aug. 7
|
July 31
|
|
18 States
|
53
|
74
|
76
|
7
|
6
|
|
Iowa
|
61
|
83
|
83
|
4
|
4
|
|
Nebraska
|
47
|
76
|
77
|
5
|
5
|
|
South Dakota
|
47
|
55
|
58
|
13
|
11
|
Soybeans
Soybean condition increased a couple points on the top end, while the bottom end was stable. The poor/very poor categories worsened by one point in Iowa and Nebraska but jumped from 7 percent to 13 percent in South Dakota. At the same time, South Dakota’s good/excellent category fell from 60 percent to 55 percent.
Pod setting – at 69 percent - remains ahead of the 61 percent average.
|
State
|
Percent Pod Setting
|
Good/Excellent
|
Poor/Very Poor
|
|
|
Aug. 7
|
Aug. 7
|
July 31
|
Aug. 7
|
July 31
|
|
18 States
|
69
|
74
|
72
|
7
|
7
|
|
Iowa
|
79
|
83
|
83
|
4
|
3
|
|
Nebraska
|
65
|
76
|
76
|
5
|
4
|
|
South Dakota
|
78
|
55
|
60
|
13
|
7
|
Yield Estimates
Eric Snodgrass, senior atmospheric scientist and co-founder of Agrible, Inc., told attendees at FCSAmerica’s Side-by-Side conference last week that based on weather through July 31 and his expectations for the remainder of the growing season, he is projecting national corn yields at 167 bu. and soybeans at 48 bu./acre.
Commenting on a release by brokerage house FC Stone of 175 bu./acre for corn and 48.8 for soybeans based on a survey of elevators about what they expect in their areas, Snodgrass said: “I just don’t think it is there. Some key areas [such as parts of the northern Eastern Corn Belt] are seeing some crop stress.”
Snodgrass believes USDA may use 169 bu. in its supply/demand report this Friday – its first survey-based estimate for this year’s crop. “If the yield ultimately comes in at 167-169, this would be the second or third largest corn crop ever,” he pointed out.
