Due to the ongoing government shutdown, the Crop Progress and Condition report will not be released today. In the absence of the official report, we examined a poll conducted by Bloomberg that surveyed agricultural analysts on their expectations for what the report would have shown at the national level.
The average analyst expectation shows 65% of the corn crop to be good to excellent (down 1% from last week), with the soybean crop expected to be rated 62% (unchanged) in those categories. This tracks similarly to the values from this time last year, and continues the trend of conditions remaining above their five-year averages.
Harvest of the corn crop was estimated at an average of 31%, slightly above average for this time of year. This is likely supported by the hot and dry conditions in the Midwest allowing for harvest to progress well. Soybean harvest was estimated at 38% complete, behind last year’s pace, but right in line with the five-year average. Planting of winter wheat is expected to progress well due to ample moisture levels in the plains. The average estimate was 50% complete, just 2% behind the five-year average.
With the lack of state-level data, the ProFarmer Crop Condition Index will not be updated this week.