Farm Futures logo

Each crop trends a point lower in the week ending August 14

Ben Potter, Senior editor

August 15, 2022

2 Min Read
dented corn
Rachel Schutte

Prior to the latest crop progress report from USDA, out Monday afternoon and covering the week through August 14, analysts were expecting the agency to once again trim corn and soybean quality ratings. The agency complied and dealt out a plethora of other physiological crop data for corn, soybeans, winter wheat, spring wheat and much more.

Corn ratings slid a point lower, with 57% rated in good-to-excellent condition through Sunday. Analysts were expecting to see a two-point drop. Another 27% of the crop was rated fair (up a point from last week), with the remaining 16% rated poor or very poor (unchanged from a week ago).

Physiologically, 94% of the crop is now silking, up from 90% a week ago but a few points behind 2021’s pace of 98% and the prior five-year average of 97%. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of the crop has reached the dough stage, versus the prior five-year average of 65%. And 16% is now dented, versus the prior five-year average of 20%.

Soybean quality ratings fell a point to 58% in good-to-excellent condition, mirroring analyst expectations. Another 30% is rated fair (unchanged from last week), with the remaining 12% rated poor or very poor (up a point from last week).

Physiologically, 93% of the crop is now blooming, up from 89% a week ago and matching the prior five-year average of 93%. Nearly three-fourths (74%) is now setting pods, up from 61% last week and a bit behind the prior five-year average of 77%.

Spring wheat ratings made some interesting shifts last week. The total percent of the crop rated in good-to-excellent condition held steady, at 64%. Even so, the G/E split changed from 55/9 last week to 58/6 in today’s report. Another 30% is rated fair (up two points from last week), with the remaining 6% rated poor or very poor (down two points from last week).

Some harvest progress also commenced last week, with 16% out of the ground through August 14. That’s up from 9% a week ago but well behind 2021’s pace of 55% and the prior five-year average of 35%.

The winter wheat harvest inched closer to completion, with 90% finished as of Sunday. That’s up from 86% a week ago but still behind 2021’s pace of 97% and the prior five-year average of 94%.

Click here for more data from the latest USDA crop progress report, including the agency’s observations about sorghum, oats, cotton, rice and other regionally important crops.

About the Author(s)

Ben Potter

Senior editor, Farm Futures

Senior Editor Ben Potter brings two decades of professional agricultural communications and journalism experience to Farm Futures. He began working in the industry in the highly specific world of southern row crop production. Since that time, he has expanded his knowledge to cover a broad range of topics relevant to agriculture, including agronomy, machinery, technology, business, marketing, politics and weather. He has won several writing awards from the American Agricultural Editors Association, most recently on two features about drones and farmers who operate distilleries as a side business. Ben is a graduate of the University of Missouri School of Journalism.

Subscribe to receive top agriculture news
Be informed daily with these free e-newsletters

You May Also Like