Crop Watch: Producers welcome cool weather but not the dry pattern -Braun
The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a market analyst for Reuters.
By Karen Braun
NAPERVILLE, Illinois, July 22 (Reuters) -Conditions for pollination in U.S. Crop Watch corn fields have been or will be mostly favorable, though the growers are not excited about the recent drying trend forecast to last at least another week.
The flip to dry comes after a wet spring and early summer, hampering corn emergence and causing some producers to continue questioning potential yield penalties.
Crop Watch locations in Ohio and the western Corn Belt have been relatively dry for two weeks now, but the widespread, cooler-than-normal temperatures have helped preserve some moisture.
Normal-to-cool temperatures are expected to continue this week for much of the Corn Belt, though warmer conditions are predicted in the Dakotas, which is needed. Lighter rainfall amounts are forecast across the board this week.
Crop Watch producers are rating crop conditions and yield potential on 1-to-5 scales. The condition scores are a primarily visual assessment similar to the U.S. government’s where 1 is very poor, 3 is average and 5 is excellent.
Yield potential is meant to capture both visible and nonvisible elements. On this scale, 3 is around farm average yield, 4 is solidly above average and 5 is among the best crops ever.
Average scores are little changed this week, but there was some movement within. The 11-field, unweighted average corn yield dropped to 3.34 from 3.36 in the prior week. Corn conditions eased to 3.45 from 3.48 last week.
Average soybean conditions were steady on the week at 3.84 and yield increased to 3.61 from 3.57 a week earlier.
Condition and yield improvements for both crops were prominent in Nebraska, southeastern Illinois and both Iowa locations. Scores were lowered across the board in Kansas after a second dry week, and bean conditions were trimmed in Indiana as heavy hurricane-linked rains in the prior week caused some field ponding.
Corn scores went down in western Illinois, which experienced strong storms a week ago. Damage was originally thought to be minimal, but the producer now estimates at least 15% of the field’s corn plants may be snapped below the ear. This assessment is ongoing.
The eastern Iowa location, which was blasted by a similar derecho event in 2020, escaped a repeat during last week’s storms and has observed nearly perfect pollination weather. But yield scores here remain somewhat conservative because of how high the farm averages have become in recent years.
The following are the states and counties of the 2024 Crop Watch corn and soybean fields: Kingsbury, South Dakota; Freeborn, Minnesota; Burt, Nebraska; Rice, Kansas; Audubon, Iowa; Cedar, Iowa; Warren, Illinois; Crawford, Illinois; Tippecanoe, Indiana; Fairfield, Ohio. The North Dakota soybeans are in Griggs County and the corn is in Stutsman County.
Karen Braun is a market analyst for Reuters. Views expressed above are her own.
Graphic- Crop Watch Producers 2024 https://tmsnrt.rs/44kerF2
Reporting by Karen Braun
Editing by Matthew Lewis
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
