The trade was watching closely as the crop progress and condition ratings were released Monday afternoon. Arlan Suderman with Waterstreet Solutions said, “Traders expect Monday afternoon’s USDA crop progress report to show 93% of the soybean crop in the ground as of June 15, up from 87% last week. The trade expects the crop to be rated 74% Good to Excellent, unchanged from the previous week.” That is pretty much what the report indicated. The USDA estimated corn emergence at 97%, a 5% increase from last week and 1% ahead of the five-year average. Farmers are sounding very confident about the corn crop thus far. Corn conditions remain extremely positive with 76% of the crop rated “Good” or “Excellent”, a 1% increase from the previous week and a 12% increase from last year. 20% was considered “Fair” while only 4% was considered “Poor” or “Very Poor.” Despite the delay in planting, a good combination of rain and sunshine has the USDA expecting a record crop this year for both total yield and bushels per acre.
Soybean planting was slowed by rains over the past week; 92% of acres were estimated planted, a 5% increase from last week and 2% ahead of the five-year average. Farmers in the Dakotas are struggling to replant soybeans in troubled areas. Many beans that were planted early did not emerge because of the cold and the heavy rainfall they received. Those farmers who waited are also struggling to get fields planted because of continued rain in the region. Soybean emergence was reported at 83%, a 12% increase from last week and 6% ahead of the five-year average. Soybean conditions are well above last year’s estimates; 73% of the crop is considered to be in “Good” or “Excellent” condition opposed to 64% last year, 23% was considered in “Fair” condition, while only 4% was reported as “Poor” or “Very Poor.”