We are on our way to set a record, and that is not a good thing. USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says that, according to the latest crop ratings, 38% of the nation’s corn crop is rated poor to very poor condition, “That 38% figure represents the largest amount of corn rated as poor to very poor since the end of the 1988 drought.” In that year, 53% of the US corn crop was rated as poor to very poor on August 23. At the current rate of determination, we will surpass that mark by August of this year.
Rippey says Indiana has some of the worst corn in the nation, “In 13 of the top 18 corn producing states in the US, at least one quarter of the corn crop is rated as poor to very poor. Indiana at 71% is just behind Missouri and Kentucky.” The situation is similar for soybeans with 30% of the nation’s soybeans rated as poor to very poor as of July 15. Here again, Indiana has some of the worst soybeans in the nation, “We have at least half of the soybean crop rated poor to very poor in 4 states: Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky and Michigan.” Indiana has 57% of the soybeans rated as poor to very poor.