Market News & Headlines >> U.S. Corn Rating Steady; Soy Rating Improved

U.S. corn conditions held stable last week, while soybean conditions improved slightly, according to Monday afternoon’s USDA Crop Progress report. 

USDA rated U.S. corn conditions 69% good/excellent and only 8% poor/very poor as of Sunday, unchanged from a week earlier and 12 points above a year earlier. The good/excellent rating was also one percentage point above the average of trade expectations in a Reuters News Service survey and two points above the five-year average for that point in the growing season. 

Corn development accelerated last week as USDA estimated that 59% of the crop had silked by Sunday, more than double the previous week’s 29% and 5 points ahead of the five-year average. An estimated 9% of the crop had already reached the dough stage, up from 3% a week earlier and the five-year average of 7%. 

Soybean conditions were also rated 69% good/excellent by USDA, up 1 percentage point from a week earlier, and only 7% poor/very poor. The rating was 2 points above the average of trade expectations, 15 points above a year earlier and 3 points above the five-year average for the date. 

USDA estimated that 64% of the U.S. soybean crop was blooming, up from 48% a week earlier and ahead of the five-year average of 57%. An estimated 25% of the crop was setting pods, up from 11% a week earlier and the average pace of 21%. 

Looking at the top corn producing states, the portion of the Iowa corn crop rated good/excellent fell 3 points to 80%, while the portion of the Minnesota crop rated good/excellent dropped 2 points to 83%. The good/excellent rating for the Nebraska crop fell 4 points to 66%, but the portion of the Illinois crop rated good/excellent rose 2 points to 63%. The good/excellent rating for Indiana corn held steady at 59%. 

The portion of the Iowa soybean crop rated good/excellent slid by 4 points to 72%, while the good/excellent rating for the Minnesota crop fell by 3 points to 80% and the good/excellent rating for the Nebraska crop fell by 2 points to 71%. However, the portion of the Illinois crop rated good/excellent jumped by 8 points to 67%. The good/excellent rating for Indiana soybeans held steady at 60%.