USDA’s weekly Crop Progress and Condition report showed “good” to “excellent” ratings for corn and soybeans unchanged from the previous week. State-level breakdowns of the Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index, which compresses the USDA’s weekly crop progress report into a single, weighted, easy-to-track number that’s widely used to monitor the health and potential of U.S. corn and soybean crops during the growing season and more details around USDA ratings, are below.
Corn
USDA’s rating of the corn crop shows 17% as very poor to poor, 26% fair, and 57% good to excellent. The national level ratings were unchanged from week-ago levels for the third consecutive week, as the crop has mostly stabilized following deterioration throughout August. Still, the Crop Condition Index saw a 0.88 point increase, led by gains in Illinois (1.02 points) and Nebraska (0.71 points).
| Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index for Corn | |||
| State | This Week | Last week | Year-ago |
| Colorado (0.86%*) | 2.39 | 2.45 | 3.16 |
| Illinois (15.63%) | 52.76 | 51.74 | 50.71 |
| Indiana (6.96%) | 23.70 | 23.70 | 22.97 |
| Iowa (17.37%) | 63.90 | 64.41 | 64.58 |
| Kansas (4.27%) | 14.49 | 14.73 | 17.61 |
| Kentucky (1.63%) | 6.30 | 6.16 | 5.19 |
| Michigan (2.32%) | 7.94 | 7.92 | 7.30 |
| Minnesota (9.85%) | 34.54 | 34.64 | 37.34 |
| Missouri (3.80%) | 14.47 | 14.43 | 14.75 |
| Nebraska (11.37%) | 40.85 | 40.14 | 47.08 |
| North Carolina (0.69%) | 1.72 | 1.72 | 2.70 |
| North Dakota (3.26%) | 10.31 | 10.54 | 13.47 |
| Ohio (4.18%) | 14.33 | 14.45 | 12.75 |
| Pennsylvania (0.66%) | 2.51 | 2.63 | 2.19 |
| South Dakota (5.47%) | 17.76 | 17.40 | 23.74 |
| Tennessee (0.81%) | 3.44 | 3.44 | 2.86 |
| Texas (1.41%) | 4.77 | 4.77 | 5.97 |
| Wisconsin (3.66%) | 12.40 | 12.50 | 14.13 |
| Corn total | 349.62 | 348.74 | 370.79 |
* denotes percentage of total national corn crop production.
Soybeans
USDA’s soybean ratings show the crop rated as 13% very poor to poor, 29% fair, and 58% good to excellent. The very poor to poor categories decreased by 1% this week, with the fair category rising 1%. The changes saw the CCI rise 0.56 points to 355.25. No states saw sizable moves from the previous week, but most of the Corn Belt states saw minor increases with the exceptions of Iowa and Nebraska.
| Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index for Soybeans | |||
| State | This Week | Last week | Year-ago |
| Arkansas (3.82%*) | 13.17 | 13.54 | 13.39 |
| Illinois (15.74%) | 55.47 | 54.54 | 50.83 |
| Indiana (7.90%) | 27.94 | 27.79 | 27.16 |
| Iowa (13.73%) | 52.61 | 52.89 | 53.17 |
| Kansas (3.03%) | 10.56 | 10.88 | 13.15 |
| Kentucky (2.32%) | 8.20 | 8.14 | 5.92 |
| Louisiana (1.18%) | 3.89 | 3.89 | 4.05 |
| Michigan (2.38%) | 8.31 | 8.64 | 7.70 |
| Minnesota (8.19%) | 28.98 | 28.98 | 31.77 |
| Mississippi (2.38%) | 9.25 | 9.25 | 8.82 |
| Missouri (6.45%) | 22.78 | 22.65 | 22.71 |
| Nebraska (6.60%) | 25.10 | 25.51 | 27.16 |
| North Carolina (1.48%) | 5.23 | 4.95 | 4.77 |
| North Dakota (5.18%) | 15.82 | 15.23 | 18.72 |
| Ohio (6.31%) | 22.57 | 22.63 | 19.69 |
| South Dakota (5.06%) | 17.05 | 16.62 | 20.95 |
| Tennessee (1.82%) | 6.59 | 6.83 | 5.32 |
| Wisconsin (2.52%) | 8.63 | 8.65 | 9.93 |
| Soybean total | 355.25 | 354.69 | 358.45 |
* denotes percentage of total national soybean production.
Harvest progress shows disparity between states
The impacts of weather disruptions on harvest have also began to become pronounced as the season progresses, especially in soybeans. Arkansas has even set a record for the highest percent of soybeans harvested at this time of year in records going back to 1981 at 61% complete. Harvest is running well above average across the entire southern U.S., which has been aided by the abnormally hot and dry weather that swept the region to close out the summer.
The mirror image has been seen across the upper Midwest and western Corn Belt, which has received much more rainfall than usual for this time of year. Iowa and Nebraska are the states with the sharpest declines compared to five-year averages. The lag highlights at least part of the cause of abnormally high basis levels being seen for soybeans across the Midwest, as end users scramble to find beans that are normally available at this time left standing in fields for now.
