Market News & Headlines >> Crop Conditions Strong, Heatwave On the Way

This past Monday’s weekly crop update from USDA pegged mid-July U.S. corn and soybean conditions at the best levels in years, but both crops are in for a stressful period next week with a dome of high pressure set to bring extreme temperatures to the Plains and Midwest. 

USDA rated U.S. corn conditions 76% good/excellent as of Sunday, up one point from a week earlier and seven points from a year earlier. U.S. soybean conditions were rated 72% good/excellent, up 1 point from a week earlier and nine points from a year earlier. 

The good/excellent rating for the U.S. corn crop was the highest for that point of the growing season since 1999 and the fourth highest on record for the week going back to 1986. The good/excellent rating for the soybean crop tied 2014 for the second best on record going back to 1986, with only the 1994 crop rated higher. 

Conditions are expected to turn hot and dry across the central U.S. by Tuesday, however, the latest weather model runs on Thursday evening offered a less threatening view for the Midwest than runs earlier in the week indicating a shorter duration for the heatwave.Instead of a full week of extreme heat for the central/northern Plains and the Midwest, indications are now that the high pressure dome will pull back to the west after only four days allowing cooler, wetter conditions late next week and early in the following week, before another round of heat