A six percent drop in the primary crop condition rating across the state according to the USDA’s latest numbers. Weekly crop condition ratings are out from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service Upper Midwest Regional Office. Agricultural Statistician Brian Gallagher says they measured a six percent decline in both the condition of the corn crop and the condition of the soybean crop, 54 percent and 53 percent good to excellent, respectively, due to the heat mainly here in the past week.
“Subsoil moisture condition rated 28% very short, 45% short, 26% adequate, and 1% surplus corn in or beyond the dose stage reached 96%,” Gallagher said. “This week, eight days ahead of last year and 11 days ahead of the five year average. 62% of the corn crop was dented or beyond five days ahead of last year and four days ahead of normal 6% of the state’s corn crop has reached maturity.”
We also have received a few harvest reports from Northeastern Iowa in at 120 bushels an acre and the test weight in the mid 40s. The comparison was to 1998 and the worst since then. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig says that fits with what he has viewed across the State of Iowa.
“There are places where it just looks phenomenal,” Naig said. “We’ve had good rain, we’ve had timely rains. Unfortunately, you do have some places that are just just dry, you know just to dry and unfortunately with the weather. The last couple of weeks we’ve we’ve actually added drought back into the equation. We’re setting records that we don’t want to set we’re over 160 weeks now of significant of some level of drought in the state of Iowa. So that’s not a record you want to be setting we’re hoping for a more active weather pattern here. As we continue to head into next year.”
For more on the weekly crop ratings, visit iowaagriculture.gov.
