A blast of hot weather hasn’t caused serious harm to corn and soybean crops – yet. Growers responding to Feedback From The Field over the weekend are watching and waiting.

“Extremely dry.  Need rain desperately,” said a producer in northwest Ohio . “Early corn just sitting there not growing. Late beans not coming up evenly or at all.”

But conditions as usual vary widely, depending on where rains fell or didn’t. While this grower rated corn and soybeans in poor condition, another farmer less than 10 miles away graded corn fields in good shape though beans were only fair. And one Ohio producer was blessed with much-needed rain on Friday.

Crops off to good start but need rain

“Raining here this morning,” said the producer. ”A Godsend. Prior to today we have had .4 to 1.0 inches of rain in the last 4 weeks.”

The latest Vegetative Health Index showed stress from eastern Nebraska and the Dakotas into much of Iowa and parts of Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. The VHI for both corn and soybeans was steady though Thursday, but weekend heat may knock a little off ratings put out by USDA Monday afternoon.

Still, growers overall last week agreed with USDA’s early ratings, which have the crop in good shape. In fact, they said corn was in a little better condition that the government reported, with soybeans about the same. They also gave strong ratings to winter and spring wheat, in line with USDA’s assessment.

“Crops in our area are off to a tremendous start,” said a grower in northern Illinois, where the VHI improved last week.  “It maybe our best start ever across all farms.”

Click the large dots on the interactive map to see reports from this week, with smaller dots showing previous reports.

Click this link to give us your own Feedback.

Feedback from the Field - June 8, 2016 - Growers say heat will help some crops, hurt others.
Feedback from the Field - June 6, 2016 - Crops improve, but growers see too much or too little rain
Feedback from the Field - May 31, 2016 - Corn slowly improves ahead of first USDA ratings
Feedback from the Field - May 25, 2016 - Goldilocks spring hard to find in Corn Belt
Feedback from the Field - May 23, 2016 - Corn Belt dries out a little as mid-May deadline arrives
Feedback from the Field - May 18, 2016 - Growers worry about frost damage from weekend's chill
Feedback from the Field - May 14, 2016 - Growers hope to get back into the field
Feedback from the Field - May 13, 2016 - Planting delays grab market's attention
Feedback from the Field - May 11, 2016 - It's deju vu all over again as wet weather continues
Feedback from the Field - May 9, 2016 - Weather challenges farmers in eastern Midwest
Feedback from the Field - May 3, 2016 - Growers say wet weather stalls planting
Feedback from the Field - May 2, 2016 - Some crops off to slow start as wet and cold hamper planting