The condition of the U.S. corn crop held steady during the past week, while soybean ratings edged lower, according to Monday’s USDA crop progress report.
The nationwide corn crop was rated 61% good to excellent as of Sunday, unchanged from the previous week but well below 72% at the same point last year. Soybean conditions slipped 1 point to 62% good to excellent, compared to 68% last year.
Among the central Corn Belt states, Iowa’s corn rating declined 2 points to 78% good to excellent. Illinois improved 1 point to 61%, while Indiana gained 2 points to 66%.
Conditions weakened more sharply in some northern states. Michigan corn plunged 10 points to 57% good to excellent, while Ohio improved 1 point to 62%. North Dakota also dropped sharply, falling 10 points to just 27% amid increasing dryness.
Soybean conditions showed a similar mixed regional pattern. Iowa slipped 1 point to 77% good to excellent, while Illinois improved 1 point to 59% and Indiana gained 1 point to 65%.
Michigan soybean ratings improved 3 points to 54%, while Ohio was unchanged at 59%. North Dakota posted the largest decline among the selected states, falling 13 points to 31% good to excellent.
Crop development continued to advance rapidly. Nationally, 94% of corn was silking, up from 90% a week earlier and slightly ahead of both last year and the five-year average at 93%. Corn in the dough stage jumped to 61% from 43%, compared with 56% last year and the 55% average. Sixteen percent of the crop had dented, up from 6% the previous week and ahead of the 12% average.
Soybean blooming reached 93%, up from 88% a week earlier, while pod setting advanced to 74% from 62%. Both measures were ahead of last year and their respective five-year averages.
