As August comes to a close, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is drawing attention to the latest corn and soybean crop progress, emphasizing how late-summer weather has influenced maturity and condition ratings. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey offers critical insight into the state of the nation’s crops amid developing drought conditions.
“Looking at the key production states, 18 of them, only two fall outside the range of plus or minus 10 percentage points from the average, and both of those are on the quick side,” said Rippey.
He notes that a rapidly developing drought across the Mid-South and lower Midwest has significantly impacted crop development. “Now, what we have seen in parts of the Mid-South and lower Midwest in late August is rapid developing drought, and with that rapid onset drought, that has led to some faster-than-you-might-expect maturity of the corn,” Rippey explained.
While early maturity might sound promising, it often comes with a downside. “Sometimes that can come at the expense of yield potential, but whatever the case, dryness across the southern Corn Belt, the Mid-South, pushing corn maturity by August 31st to 34% in Missouri, well ahead of the five-year average of 22%. Even quicker in Tennessee, 60% fully mature at the end of August. Five-year average is just 37%,” Rippey said.
The USDA also provided an update on the soybean crop, which has faced its own set of challenges this season. “We have seen the very poor-to-poor statewide ratings creeping above 20% in several production states, including Tennessee, now 25%, Kentucky, 23%, Illinois, 22%. All three of those states saw a very dry August overall, and that is taking a little bit of a bite out of those condition ratings for those states and some neighboring states as well,” Rippey reported.
As the harvest approaches, growers across affected states will closely monitor how ongoing dryness and early maturity affect final yields for both corn and soybeans.
Audio Reporting by Dale Sandlin for Southeast AgNet.