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Corn and soybean conditions saw a minor but unexpected decline in the past week. USDA on Monday said 67% of the corn crop was rated “good” or “excellent” as of Sunday, down 1 percentage point from the previous week. The report showed 65% of soybeans rated good to excellent, down from 66% the previous week. Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg had expected good-to-excellent ratings for both crops to remain unchanged.
Despite the decline, the Pro Farmer Crop Condition Index (on a 0-to-500 scale, 500 = perfect) for corn showed a 0.70 point net increase from last week to 372.77. Improvements were mostly seen in the western Corn Belt that slightly more than offset declining conditions in the east. The index 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. crops during the growing season
The soybean CCI declined 0.92 point to 366.80, dragged down by declines for Illinois and Indiana. Click here for a full rundown of this week’s Pro Farmer CCI ratings.
The USDA report showed 48% of the winter wheat crop had been harvested as of Sunday, up from 40% the previous week but below the 53% average estimate. Winter wheat conditions were steady, with 26% of the crop rated good to excellent. The Crop Condition Index showed HRW declined 3.18 points to 235.37, while SRW increased 1.67 points to 369.02.
USDA said 59% of the spring wheat crop was rated good to excellent, up from 54% the previous week and above the average estimate of 55%.
SCOTUS blocks firing of Fed’s Cook: The Supreme Court on Monday blocked President Donald Trump’s effort to fire Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook without more legal scrutiny. In a 5-4 decision, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote that accepting Trump’s position would allow the president “to remove a member of the Federal Reserve at any time, for any reason, without any notice before, and without any judicial check after.” Allowing presidents to fire Fed governors at will would threaten the ability of the central bank to set policy free from political pressure, he wrote, which was the primary reason Congress made the central bank independent. Trump has cited allegations by Housing Secretary Bill Pulte that Cook lied about her primary residence on a mortgage application in 2021, a charge Cook has denied and has called the charges a pretext aimed at filling the Fed board with Trump loyalists.
- The court didn’t decide whether Trump can ultimately fire Cook, only that she must have a reasonable opportunity to defend herself.
European crops ‘may be withering’: Daytime highs surged near or above 100 degrees Fahrenheit in several areas of Germany, France, Poland, Italy, and neighboring areas over the weekend as a high pressure ridge slowly shifted east to central Europe, said World Weather Inc. in a Monday update. Aggressive drying was noted in recent days, especially for France and neighboring areas where the heatwave began last week. “Crops may be withering in the driest and warmest areas of France and neighboring locations,” the forecaster wrote. “Livestock was likely significantly stressed as well.”
The ridge is slowly shifting into Eastern Europe before breaking down during the next few days, though another weak ridge will extend across mainland Western Europe later this week and weekend. France, Belgium, the Netherlands, southern England, and much of the Iberian Peninsula will be dry or receive limited precipitation this week as a result of the new ridge, World Weather said. The ground will remain dry and crops may continue to be stressed.
Seawater threatens Italian farms due to heatwave: The flow of Italy’s Po river has dropped dramatically in less than two weeks due to the heatwave gripping Europe, Reuters reported, with salty seawater to advance as far as 18 km (11 miles) inland and raising fears for the delta’s agriculture and protected wetlands. The report said that at the last point before the Po branches into several channels feeding into the Adriatic Sea, the flow has dropped around 1,000 cubic metres per second to below 300.
Defamation lawsuit dismissed: Agri-Pulse reported that an Idaho state district court judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit brought by businessman and current USDA Natural Resources and Environment Undersecretary Michael Boren against four people who had criticized his request for a permit to use a pasture on his ranch in a federal recreation area as a landing strip. Judge Darren Simpson dismissed the case due to inactivity, writing that Boren had “failed to show good cause” for its retention.
June 30 acreage report looms: Tuesday brings one of the most anticipated and potentially hectic trading days of the year for corn and soybean markets when USDA releases its June Acreage report alongside its latest Quarterly Stocks report.
Anticipation around acreage is running particularly high this year as a result of fluctuations in fertilizer prices as a result of the Iran war. Excessively wet weather in parts of the Corn Belt may also leave doubt about whether the report will offer the final word on acres. Also fresh in mind for producers and traders are the large acreage adjustments made well after last year’s June 30 report, which served to further rattle faith in USDA data.
Pro Farmer’s Spencer Langford breaks down the expectations, historical reactions and everything else you need to know to get ready for one of the most crucial reports of the year: Will USDA cut corn acres Tuesday? Iran war, wet weather cloud June 30 report.